Settling an Estate in Montana
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Montana · Last updated August 27, 2026
Montana has no separate probate court. Estates are opened in the Montana district court for the county where the decedent was domiciled, and Montana's district courts are the courts of general jurisdiction that process all probate cases in the state. Two Montana rules matter more than the Uniform Probate Code framing the state shares with its neighbors. First, Montana Code Annotated 72-3-607 gives the personal representative nine months after appointment to prepare the inventory, roughly three times the window most states allow, and the inventory does not have to be filed with the court at all. Second, Montana Code Annotated 72-3-801 makes publication a duty rather than an option: the personal representative shall publish notice, and creditors then have four months from first publication or be forever barred. The small estate affidavit in Montana Code Annotated 72-3-1101 reaches $100,000 of probate estate value but stops at personal property, which is why the recorded beneficiary deed is the usual Montana answer for a house. Montana imposes no state estate tax and no inheritance tax.
Find out where you stand in Montana
Where are you in settling the estate?
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Is probate required in Montana, and when can it be avoided?
Not always. Joint tenancy property, payable on death and transfer on death accounts, life insurance and retirement benefits with a living beneficiary, trust assets, and real property covered by a recorded Montana beneficiary deed all pass outside probate. A recorded beneficiary deed is the usual Montana answer for a house, because the small estate affidavit cannot transfer land.
Which court handles probate in Montana?
The Montana district court for the county where the decedent was domiciled at death. Montana has no separate probate court; its district courts are the courts of general jurisdiction and they process all probate cases. The file sits with the clerk of the district court, who can grant an informal appointment without a judge.
What is the small estate affidavit limit in Montana?
Montana Code Annotated 72-3-1101 caps it at $100,000 of probate estate value, wherever located, after liens and encumbrances come off. What matters as much as the figure is the reach: the affidavit moves tangible personal property, debts owed to the decedent, stock, and choses in action, never land. Thirty days must pass first.
How long does probate take in Montana?
A straightforward Montana administration usually runs eight months to a year. Two periods drive that. Creditors have four months from first publication under Montana Code Annotated 72-3-801, and the inventory is not due until nine months after appointment under 72-3-607, which is far longer than most states allow.
A nine month inventory, a mandatory publication, and an affidavit that stops at the property line
Montana runs its estates through the district court, and Montana district courts are the general jurisdiction trial courts that handle all probate cases in the state, with the file held by the clerk of the district court in the county of the decedent's domicile. Judicial districts frequently span several counties, so the judge may sit elsewhere while the paperwork stays local. An application for informal probate or informal appointment goes to that clerk, who can admit the will and appoint the personal representative once at least 120 hours have passed since the death, without a judge ever being involved. What sets Montana apart once the appointment is made is the pace. Montana Code Annotated 72-3-607 allows nine months after appointment to prepare the inventory, an unusually long runway, and it lets the personal representative choose between filing the original with the court and simply delivering copies to the heirs, devisees, and claimants with allowed claims. Many Montana inventories therefore never become a public record. Cutting the other way, Montana Code Annotated 72-3-801 does not leave publication to the representative's discretion. The representative shall publish notice once a week for three successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, and creditors have four months from the date of first publication or are forever barred, while a creditor given written notice by mail gets four months from publication or thirty days from the mailing, whichever is later. Montana Code Annotated 72-3-803 then adds an outer wall: claims that arose before death are barred one year after death regardless. The small estate route in Montana Code Annotated 72-3-1101 opens at $100,000 of probate estate value wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, thirty days after death and only where no personal representative has been appointed, but it reaches tangible personal property and instruments evidencing a debt, obligation, stock, or chose in action, not real property. Montana is a separate property state rather than a community property state, and it uses the redesigned elective share: under Montana Code Annotated 72-2-232 a surviving spouse may claim fifty percent of the marital property portion of the augmented estate, with a supplemental elective share amount of $75,000 for a spouse whose own assets fall short. Montana imposes no state estate tax and no inheritance tax.
Relevant Laws
Montana Code Annotated Title 72, chapter 3 (UPC, probate and administration)
Montana's enactment of the Uniform Probate Code administration provisions, organized so that informal probate and appointment run through the clerk of the district court. Within it, 72-3-513 excuses bond in informal proceedings absent a special administrator, an express will requirement, or a demand under 72-3-514; 72-3-607 sets the nine month inventory duty; and 72-3-1103 supplies a summary procedure for estates that do not exceed the statutory allowances and expenses, closed by sworn statement under 72-3-1104.
Montana Code Annotated 72-3-1101 (Collection of personal property by affidavit)
Thirty days after death, a person holding the decedent's property must deliver it to a claiming successor who presents an affidavit stating that the value of the probate estate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $100,000, and that no application or petition for appointment of a personal representative is pending or has been granted in any jurisdiction. The section covers tangible personal property and instruments evidencing a debt, obligation, stock, or chose in action; it does not transfer real property. The department of revenue may separately refund unclaimed property of $5,000 or less to a successor regardless of the size of the estate.
Montana Code Annotated 72-3-801 (Notice to creditors)
On appointment the personal representative shall publish notice once a week for three successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, giving the representative's name and address and notifying creditors to present claims within four months after the date of first publication or be forever barred. A creditor given written notice by mail or other delivery has four months from the published notice or thirty days from the mailing or delivery, whichever is later. Montana Code Annotated 72-3-803 carries the nonclaim rule and bars claims arising before death one year after the death.
Montana Code Annotated 72-2-232 (Elective share)
Gives the surviving spouse of a decedent who dies domiciled in Montana the right to elect fifty percent of the value of the marital property portion of the augmented estate, with a supplemental elective share amount of $75,000 where the sum of the spouse's own qualifying assets falls below that figure, payable from the probate estate and from recipients of the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others.
Regional Variances
Montana probate track table
Unclaimed property of $5,000 or less held by the state
Montana Code Annotated 72-3-1101 lets the department of revenue refund unclaimed property to a successor of the decedent where the value of the unclaimed property is $5,000 or less, regardless of the value of the estate. No court, no clerk, and no size test on the rest of the estate. It is the narrowest Montana route and applies only to property already in the state's hands.
Probate estate $100,000 or less with no real property
Affidavit for collection of personal property under Montana Code Annotated 72-3-1101, presented to whoever holds the asset rather than filed with the district court. Available thirty days after death, measured on probate estate value wherever located less liens and encumbrances, and only where no personal representative has been appointed anywhere. No bond, no inventory, no publication, and no four month claim bar, because no administration exists. Land is outside the section entirely.
Estates worth no more than the allowances and expenses
Montana Code Annotated 72-3-1103 sets no dollar ceiling at all. The test is relational: if the inventory and appraisal show the entire estate, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed homestead allowance, exempt property, family allowance, costs and expenses of administration, reasonable funeral expenses, and the reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last illness, the personal representative may disburse and distribute immediately without giving notice to creditors and close by sworn statement under 72-3-1104. A larger estate with heavy last illness costs can qualify where a smaller one does not.
Estates holding real property or above the $100,000 affidavit line
Administration in the Montana district court for the county of domicile, opened informally through the clerk once 120 hours have passed since the death, or by formal proceeding before a district judge where the will or the appointment is contested. Publication under Montana Code Annotated 72-3-801 with a four month claim bar. Bond excused in informal proceedings under 72-3-513 unless a special administrator is appointed, the will requires it, or an interested person demands it under 72-3-514. Inventory due within nine months of appointment under 72-3-607.
Montana deadlines and mechanics
Creditor claims
Four months from the date of first publication under Montana Code Annotated 72-3-801, not from death and not from appointment. Publication is framed as a duty, so the representative is not choosing whether to start the clock. A creditor given written notice by mail has four months from publication or thirty days from the mailing, whichever is later, and Montana Code Annotated 72-3-803 bars claims arising before death one year after the death in any event.
Inventory
Due within nine months after appointment under Montana Code Annotated 72-3-607, listing property with fair market value as of the date of death and the type and amount of any encumbrance. The personal representative may file the original with the district court and send copies to interested persons who request one, or omit the filing and deliver copies to heirs, devisees, and creditors with allowed claims. Interested persons may waive the copy in writing.
Bond
Montana Code Annotated 72-3-513 requires no bond of a personal representative appointed in informal proceedings except on appointment of a special administrator, under a will containing an express bond requirement, or where bond is required under Montana Code Annotated 72-3-514. Qualification is completed by filing any required bond with the statement of acceptance.
Spousal entitlement
An elective share against an augmented estate, not a community property split. Montana Code Annotated 72-2-232 gives the surviving spouse fifty percent of the marital property portion of the augmented estate, plus a supplemental elective share amount of $75,000 where the spouse's own qualifying assets come to less. Homestead allowance, exempt property, and family allowance are additional to the elective share rather than charged against it.
Suggested Compliance Checklist
Sort the assets into probate and nonprobate before measuring anything
Weeks 1-2 days after startingPull joint tenancy property, payable on death and transfer on death accounts, life insurance and retirement benefits with a living beneficiary, trust assets, and any real property covered by a recorded Montana beneficiary deed out of the total. Only what remains is the probate estate that gets tested against the Montana Code Annotated 72-3-1101 ceiling, and a beneficiary deed on the house often changes the answer on its own.
Test the estate against 72-3-1101 and prepare the affidavit if it qualifies
Day 30 or later days after startingThe affidavit becomes available thirty days after death where the probate estate wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $100,000 and no personal representative has been appointed in any jurisdiction. Confirm first that the estate holds no real property, because the section reaches tangible personal property and instruments evidencing a debt, obligation, stock, or chose in action and will not move title to land.
Apply to the clerk of the district court and settle the bond question
After 120 hours from death days after startingFile the application for informal probate and informal appointment with the clerk of the district court in the county of the decedent's domicile once 120 hours have passed since the death. Check Montana Code Annotated 72-3-513 before qualifying: bond is excused in informal proceedings unless a special administrator is appointed, the will expressly requires it, or an interested person demands it under 72-3-514.
Publish the creditor notice and calendar four months from the first insertion
On appointment days after startingMontana Code Annotated 72-3-801 directs publication once a week for three successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. Diary four months from the date of first publication, and mail written notice to every creditor you know of, logging each mailing date, since a mailed creditor gets four months from publication or thirty days from mailing, whichever is later.
Prepare the inventory within nine months and hold distribution until claims are barred
Within 9 months of appointment days after startingMontana Code Annotated 72-3-607 allows nine months after appointment for an inventory showing fair market value as of the date of death and any encumbrance, filed with the district court or delivered to interested persons. Do not let the long inventory window pull distribution forward: releasing assets before the 72-3-801 four month bar runs can leave the personal representative answerable personally, and an attorney can review the claim file first.
| Task | Description | Document | Days after starting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sort the assets into probate and nonprobate before measuring anything | Pull joint tenancy property, payable on death and transfer on death accounts, life insurance and retirement benefits with a living beneficiary, trust assets, and any real property covered by a recorded Montana beneficiary deed out of the total. Only what remains is the probate estate that gets tested against the Montana Code Annotated 72-3-1101 ceiling, and a beneficiary deed on the house often changes the answer on its own. | - | Weeks 1-2 |
| Test the estate against 72-3-1101 and prepare the affidavit if it qualifies | The affidavit becomes available thirty days after death where the probate estate wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $100,000 and no personal representative has been appointed in any jurisdiction. Confirm first that the estate holds no real property, because the section reaches tangible personal property and instruments evidencing a debt, obligation, stock, or chose in action and will not move title to land. | small-estate-affidavit | Day 30 or later |
| Apply to the clerk of the district court and settle the bond question | File the application for informal probate and informal appointment with the clerk of the district court in the county of the decedent's domicile once 120 hours have passed since the death. Check Montana Code Annotated 72-3-513 before qualifying: bond is excused in informal proceedings unless a special administrator is appointed, the will expressly requires it, or an interested person demands it under 72-3-514. | - | After 120 hours from death |
| Publish the creditor notice and calendar four months from the first insertion | Montana Code Annotated 72-3-801 directs publication once a week for three successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. Diary four months from the date of first publication, and mail written notice to every creditor you know of, logging each mailing date, since a mailed creditor gets four months from publication or thirty days from mailing, whichever is later. | - | On appointment |
| Prepare the inventory within nine months and hold distribution until claims are barred | Montana Code Annotated 72-3-607 allows nine months after appointment for an inventory showing fair market value as of the date of death and any encumbrance, filed with the district court or delivered to interested persons. Do not let the long inventory window pull distribution forward: releasing assets before the 72-3-801 four month bar runs can leave the personal representative answerable personally, and an attorney can review the claim file first. | asset-inventory | Within 9 months of appointment |
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. The four month bar in Montana Code Annotated 72-3-801 protects the estate only once it has run, and a representative who releases assets while claims can still be presented may have to cover a timely claim personally. Chasing money back from a beneficiary who has already spent it rarely works. Montana Code Annotated 72-3-803 adds a one year outer limit measured from the death, which is the backstop rather than the working deadline.
No, and this is one of Montana's quieter departures from national practice. Montana Code Annotated 72-3-607 gives the personal representative nine months after appointment to prepare the inventory, then offers a choice: file the original with the court and send copies to interested persons who request one, or skip the filing and deliver copies to the heirs, devisees, and creditors whose claims have been allowed. Interested persons may waive the copy in writing.
Montana uses the redesigned elective share rather than a flat fraction of the estate. Under Montana Code Annotated 72-2-232 the surviving spouse of a decedent domiciled in Montana may elect fifty percent of the value of the marital property portion of the augmented estate. Where that produces very little, a supplemental elective share amount of $75,000 applies, payable from the probate estate and from recipients of nonprobate transfers to others.
Either it passed at death outside the estate, or it takes an administration. Montana Code Annotated 72-3-1101 reaches tangible personal property and instruments evidencing a debt, obligation, stock, or chose in action, and nothing in it touches title to land. A recorded Montana beneficiary deed passes the property to the named grantee at death without probate. Absent one, a personal representative has to be appointed to convey it. Land in another state generally needs a proceeding there.
Usually not. Montana Code Annotated 72-3-513 excuses bond for a personal representative appointed in informal proceedings, with three exceptions: appointment of a special administrator, a will that expressly requires bond, and bond required under Montana Code Annotated 72-3-514, which lets an interested person demand it. In formal proceedings a will that waives bond is generally honored unless an interested party objects and the court finds bond advisable.
Other Montana guides
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