What is the deadline for attorney malpractice where the injury does not occur until the client's death?

The period runs from the death of the person for whom the professional services were rendered.

Count forward from the trigger event. Confirm the event on the docket or in the service record before entering a date.

When the injury caused by the act or omission does not occur until the death of the person for whom the professional services were rendered, the action may be commenced within 2 years after the date of the person's death unless letters of office are issued or the person's will is admitted to probate within that 2 year period, in which case the action must be commenced within the time for filing claims against the estate or a petition contesting the validity of the will of the deceased person, whichever is later, as provided in the Probate Act of 1975. An action may not be commenced in any event more than 6 years after the date the professional services were performed.

735 ILCS 5/13-214.3(d)

1. Exclude the day of the trigger event.
2. Count every following day, including intermediate Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays.
3. If the last day is a Saturday, Sunday or Illinois legal holiday, continue to the next day that is not one of those.

Exclude the trigger day and count calendar days under 5 ILCS 70/1.11 (Statute on Statutes, Computation of time).

If the final day is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday in the Illinois calendar, the computation rule carries it to the next open day.

Illinois computes time under 5 ILCS 70/1.11 (Statute on Statutes, Computation of time). The applied calendar bundles the state legal holidays for the covered years; court-specific closures and emergency orders are not bundled.

No date is calculated on this page because the encoded provision could not be reduced to one fixed period. Read the rule text, the starting event and the noted branches, then confirm the period in the current rules before relying on any date.

The 2 years is displaced if letters of office issue or the will is admitted to probate within the period, in which case the Probate Act claim or will contest periods govern instead.

Orders and local rules

A scheduling order, stipulation approved by the court, standing order or local rule can set a different period and controls over the national default.

• A stipulation, scheduling order, standing order or local rule can set a different period and controls over the national default.
• The 2 years is displaced if letters of office issue or the will is admitted to probate within the period, in which case the Probate Act claim or will contest periods govern instead.

These checks help you review the result. They do not activate a calendar date or certify that the deadline applies.

• Correct trigger date from the docket, service record or filing receipt
• Any Illinois local rule, standing order or case order that changes the period
• Illinois legal holidays and any court closure notice
• The court’s time zone and its electronic or paper filing cutoff
• Current rules and any order entered in the case

Find answers about when this 2 years period starts, how it is counted, what can change it and how to keep your calculation.

The period and the counting method come from different provisions. The official source is the court’s published rules; the reading links open the rule text at the Legal Information Institute.

Rule record reviewed September 17, 2026. Guide sources checked September 17, 2026. Next source check September 17, 2026.

Published by Deadline Engine. This tool calculates the ordinary period under the cited rule. It does not decide whether the rule applies, obtain an extension or file anything for you.