Title 72, Title 72

Section 72-2-1002 does not apply to: (1) a nonvested property interest or a power of appointment arising out of a nondonative transfer, except a nonvested property interest or a power of appointment arising out of a: (a) premarital or postmarital agreement; (b) separation or divo…

(1) Except as extended by subsection (2), this part applies to a nonvested property interest or a power of appointment created on or after October 1, 1989. For purposes of this section, a nonvested property interest or a power of appointment created by the exercise of a power of …

This part must be applied and construed to effectuate its general purpose to make uniform the law with respect to the subject of this part among the states enacting it.

(1) Subject to subsection (3), a trust may be performed by the trustee for 21 years but no longer, whether or not the terms of the trust contemplate a longer duration if: (a) a trust is for a specific lawful noncharitable purpose or for lawful noncharitable purposes to be selecte…

(1) Any part of a decedent's estate not effectively disposed of by will passes by intestate succession to the decedent's heirs as prescribed in chapters 1 through 5, except as modified by the decedent's will. (2) A decedent may by will expressly exclude or limit the right of an i…

The intestate share of a decedent's surviving spouse is: (1) the entire intestate estate if: (a) no descendant or parent of the decedent survives the decedent; or (b) all of the decedent's surviving descendants are also descendants of the surviving spouse and there is no other de…

(1) Any part of the intestate estate not passing to the decedent's surviving spouse under 72-2-112, or the entire intestate estate if there is no surviving spouse, passes in the following order to the individuals designated below who survive the decedent: (a) to the decedent's de…

An individual who fails to survive the decedent by 120 hours is deemed to have predeceased the decedent for purposes of homestead allowance, exempt property, and intestate succession, and the decedent's heirs are determined accordingly. If it is not established by clear and convi…

If there is no taker under the provisions of this chapter, the intestate estate passes to the state of Montana.

(1) As used in this section, the following definitions apply: (a) "Deceased descendant", "deceased parent", or "deceased grandparent" means a descendant, parent, or grandparent who either predeceased the decedent or is deemed to have predeceased the decedent under 72-2-114. (b) "…

Relatives of the half blood inherit the same share they would inherit if they were of the whole blood.

An individual in gestation at a particular time is treated as living at that time if the individual lives 120 hours or more after birth. If it is not established by clear and convincing evidence that an individual in gestation at the decedent's death lived 120 hours after birth, …

(1) If an individual dies intestate as to all or a portion of the individual's estate, property the decedent gave during the decedent's lifetime to an individual who, at the decedent's death, is an heir is treated as an advancement against the heir's intestate share only if: (a) …

A debt owed to a decedent is not charged against the intestate share of any individual except the debtor. If the debtor fails to survive the decedent, the debt is not taken into account in computing the intestate share of the debtor's descendants.

No individual is disqualified to take as an heir because the individual or an individual through whom the individual claims is or has been an alien.

The estates of dower and curtesy are abolished.

An individual who is related to the decedent through two lines of relationship is entitled to only a single share based on the relationship that would entitle the individual to the larger share.

(1) Except as provided in subsections (2) and (3), for the purposes of intestate succession by, through, or from a person, an individual is the child of the child's natural parents, regardless of their marital status. The parent and child relationship may be established under Tit…

(1) A parent is barred from inheriting from or through a child of the parent if: (a) the parent's parental rights were terminated and the parent-child relationship was not judicially reestablished; or (b) the child died before reaching 18 years of age and there is clear and convi…

In this part: (1) As used in sections other than 72-2-235, "decedent's nonprobate transfers to others" means the amounts that are included in the augmented estate under 72-2-235. (2) "Fractional interest in property held in joint tenancy with the right of survivorship," whether t…

(1) The surviving spouse of a decedent who dies domiciled in this state has a right of election, under the limitations and conditions stated in this part, to take an elective-share amount equal to 50% of the value of the marital-property portion of the augmented estate. (2) If th…

(1) Subject to 72-2-238, the value of the augmented estate, to the extent provided in 72-2-234 through 72-2-237, consists of the sum of the values of all property, whether real or personal; movable or immovable, tangible or intangible, wherever situated, that constitute: (a) the …

The value of the augmented estate includes the value of the decedent's probate estate, reduced by funeral and administration expenses, homestead allowance, family allowances, exempt property, and enforceable claims.

The value of the augmented estate includes the value of the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others, not included under 72-2-234, of any of the following types, in the amount provided respectively for each type of transfer: (1) Property owned or owned in substance by the decede…

Excluding property passing to the surviving spouse under the federal social security system, the value of the augmented estate includes the value of the decedent's nonprobate transfers to the decedent's surviving spouse, which consist of all property that passed outside probate a…

(1) Except to the extent included in the augmented estate under 72-2-234 or 72-2-236, the value of the augmented estate includes the value of: (a) property that was owned by the decedent's surviving spouse at the decedent's death, including: (i) the surviving spouse's fractional …

(1) The value of any property is excluded from the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others: (a) to the extent the decedent received adequate and full consideration in money or money's worth for a transfer of the property; (b) if the property was transferred with the written joi…

(1) In a proceeding for an elective share, the following are applied first to satisfy the elective-share amount and to reduce or eliminate any contributions due from the decedent's probate estate and recipients of the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others: (a) amounts include…

(1) Only original recipients of the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others, and the donees of the recipients of the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others, to the extent the donees have the property or its proceeds, are liable to make a proportional contribution toward sati…

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), the election must be made by filing in the court and mailing or delivering to the personal representative, if any, a petition for the elective share within 9 months after the date of the decedent's death or within 6 months after the proba…

(1) The right of election may be exercised only by a surviving spouse who is living when the petition for the elective share is filed in the court under 72-2-241(1). If the election is not exercised by the surviving spouse personally, it may be exercised on the surviving spouse's…

(1) In this section, "agreement" includes a subsequent agreement that affirms, modifies, or waives an earlier agreement. (2) The right of election of a surviving spouse and the rights of the surviving spouse to homestead allowance, exempt property, and family allowance, or any of…

(1) Although under 72-2-235 a payment, item of property, or other benefit is included in the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others, a payor or other third party is not liable for having made a payment or transferred an item of property or other benefit to a beneficiary design…

(1) If a testator's surviving spouse married the testator after the execution of the will, the surviving spouse is entitled to receive, as an intestate share, no less than the value of the share of the estate the spouse would have received if the testator had died intestate as to…

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), if a testator fails to provide in the testator's will for any of the testator's children born or adopted after the execution of the will, the omitted after-born or after-adopted child receives a share in the estate as follows: (a) If the …

This part applies to the estate of a decedent who dies domiciled in this state. Rights to homestead allowance, exempt property, and family allowance for a decedent who dies not domiciled in this state are governed by the law of the decedent's domicile at death.

A decedent's surviving spouse is entitled to a homestead allowance of $22,500. If there is no surviving spouse, each minor child and each dependent child of the decedent is entitled to a homestead allowance amounting to $22,500 divided by the number of minor and dependent childre…

In addition to the homestead allowance, the decedent's surviving spouse is entitled from the estate to a value, not exceeding $15,000 in excess of any security interests therein, in household furniture, automobiles, furnishings, appliances, and personal effects. If there is no su…

(1) In addition to the right to homestead allowance and exempt property, the decedent's surviving spouse and minor children whom the decedent was obligated to support and children who were in fact being supported by the decedent are entitled to a reasonable allowance in money out…

(1) If the estate is otherwise sufficient, property specifically devised may not be used to satisfy rights to homestead allowance or exempt property. Subject to this restriction, the surviving spouse, guardians of minor children, or children who are adults may select property of …

An individual 18 or more years of age who is of sound mind may make a will.

(1) Except as provided in 72-2-523, 72-2-526, 72-2-533, and subsection (2) of this section, a will must be: (a) in writing; (b) signed by the testator or in the testator's name by some other individual in the testator's conscious presence and by the testator's direction; and (c) …

Although a document or writing added upon a document was not executed in compliance with 72-2-522, the document or writing is treated as if it had been executed in compliance with that section if the proponent of the document or writing establishes by clear and convincing evidenc…

(1) A will may be simultaneously executed, attested, and made self-proved by acknowledgment by the testator and affidavits of the witnesses, each made before an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of the state in which execution occurs and evidenced by the offic…

(1) An individual generally competent to be a witness may act as a witness to a will. (2) The signing of a will by an interested witness does not invalidate the will or any provision of it.

A written will is valid if executed in compliance with 72-2-522 or 72-2-523 or if its execution complies with the law at the time of execution of the place where the will is executed or of the law of the place where at the time of execution or at the time of death the testator is…