Title 25, Title 25

Whenever any statute of Montana requires the publication of any notice, order, or other paper or document in any newspaper once a week for any specified number of weeks, it shall be sufficient to so publish the same once each week for such number of times as shall equal the numbe…

(1) In the situations listed in Rule 4(o)(1), M.R.Civ.P., persons whose names are unknown to plaintiff may be made parties defendant, either on the filing of the complaint, cross-complaint, or complaint in intervention, as the case may be, or at any time thereafter by amendment t…

Judgments and decrees rendered in actions or proceedings when persons have been so made parties and served by publication of summons shall have the effect prescribed in Rule 4(o)(2), M.R.Civ.P. If such persons are made parties by the designation of: (1) unknown heirs, the judgmen…

Subject to a compliance with the motor vehicle laws of this state and the acceptance of the provisions of this part and 25-10-206, nonresident owners and operators of motor vehicles hereby are granted the privilege of using the highways, roads, and streets of this state and its p…

The acceptance by a nonresident of the rights and privileges conferred by the laws of this state to use the highways, roads, and streets of the state and its political subdivisions, as evidenced by the nonresident operating a motor vehicle on the highways, roads, and streets, is …

The operation by any person, individually or by the person's agent, of any motor vehicle, whether registered or unregistered and with or without a license to operate, on any public way in this state is considered equivalent to an appointment by the person of the secretary of stat…

The secretary of state shall keep a record of all such summonses and process, which shall show the day of service.

(1) Motions must be made in the county in which the action is brought or in any adjoining county in the same district. In the absence of the judge of the district from the district or in an action pending in which the judge is disqualified to act, a motion may be made before the …

When a notice of motion is given or an order to show cause is made returnable before a judge out of court and, at the time fixed for the motion or on the return day of the order, the judge is unable to hear the parties, the matter may be transferred by the judge's order to some o…

An order made out of court without notice to the adverse party may be vacated or modified, without notice, by the judge who made it, or it may be vacated or modified on notice in the manner in which other motions are made.

If an original pleading or paper be lost, the court may authorize a copy thereof to be filed and used instead of the original.

An affidavit, notice, or other paper without the title of the action or proceeding in which it is made or with a defective title is as valid and effectual for any purpose as if duly entitled if it intelligibly refers to such action or proceeding.

In an action for the recovery of real property, it must be described in the complaint with such certainty as to enable an officer, upon execution, to identify it.

The insertion in a pleading of a copy of a written instrument is equivalent to setting forth the instrument according to its legal effect.

(1) In any case in which a verification by affidavit is required, except as otherwise specifically provided, the verification by affidavit must be to the effect that the pleading is true to the knowledge of the deponent, except as to the matters stated in the affidavit on informa…

When a motion concerning a pleading is sustained or overruled and time to amend, answer, or reply is given, the time so given runs from service of notice of the decision or order, except when the party against whom the decision is made is in court. In such case the time runs from…

In pleading the statute of limitations, it is not necessary to state the facts showing the defense, but it may be stated generally that the cause of action is barred by the provisions of section .... (giving the number of the section and subsection thereof, if it is so divided, r…

It is not necessary for a party to set forth in a pleading the items of an account alleged in the pleading, but the party shall deliver to the adverse party, within 5 days or additional time that the court may allow or may be agreed to by the parties, after a demand in writing, a…

When, in an action to recover the possession of personal property, the person making any affidavit did not truly state the value of the property and the officer taking the property or the sureties on any bond or undertaking are sued for taking the same, the officer or sureties ma…

In an action for the recovery of money or damages for personal injury or wrongful death, the amount thereof may not be stated in the claim for relief, whether an original claim, counterclaim, cross-claim, or third-party claim.

When an action is filed in the district court to recover damages for personal injury or wrongful death, the parties against whom the action is brought may at any time request a statement setting forth the nature and amount of damages being sought. The request shall be filed and s…

If no request is made for such a statement setting forth the nature and amount of damages being sought, the claimant shall give notice to the defendant of the amount of special and general damages sought to be recovered: (1) before a default may be taken; or (2) in the event an a…

A copy of the statement setting forth the nature and amount of damages being sought may be delivered to the defendant at the time of service of the summons and complaint but may not be filed for 20 days after the complaint is filed.

In an action against an executor, administrator, or other person sued in a representative capacity, the defendant may set forth as a counterclaim a demand belonging to the decedent or other person whom the executor, administrator, or person represents when the person so represent…

In an action brought by an executor or administrator in a representative capacity, a demand against the decedent belonging at the time of the decedent's death to the defendant may be set forth by the defendant as a counterclaim as if the action had been brought by the decedent in…

A counterclaim on a contract is subject to the following rules: (1) Except as otherwise provided by the Uniform Commercial Code, if the action is founded upon a contract that has been assigned by the party to the contract, a demand existing against the party to the contract or an…

When the judgment may determine the ultimate rights of two or more defendants as between themselves, a defendant who requires a determination shall demand it in the answer. The controversy between the defendants may not delay a judgment to which the plaintiff is entitled unless t…

A motion to postpone a trial on grounds of the absence of evidence shall only be made upon affidavit showing the materiality of the evidence expected to be obtained and that due diligence has been used to procure it.

The court may also require the moving party to state, upon affidavit, the evidence that the party expects to obtain, and if the adverse party admits that the evidence would be given and that it be considered as actually given on the trial or offered and overruled as improper, the…

Upon good cause shown and in furtherance of justice, the court may, in its discretion, postpone a trial or proceeding upon other grounds than the absence of evidence under such conditions as the court may direct.

The party obtaining a postponement of a trial in any court of record must, if required by the adverse party, consent that the testimony of any witness of such adverse party who is in attendance be then taken by deposition before a judge or clerk of the court in which the case is …

When the answer of the defendant, expressly or by not denying, admits a part of the plaintiff's claim to be just, the court, upon the plaintiff's motion, may, in its discretion, order that the action be severed, that a judgment be entered for the plaintiff for the part admitted, …

In an action upon contract when the complaint demands judgment for a sum of money only, if the defendant by the answer does not deny the plaintiff's claim but sets up a counterclaim amounting to less than the plaintiff's claim, the plaintiff, upon filing with the clerk an admissi…

In a civil action, the party complaining is known as the plaintiff and the adverse party as the defendant. The party prosecuting a special proceeding may be known as the plaintiff and the adverse party as the defendant.

It is sufficient in all actions, papers, pleadings, or proceedings to designate any party or person by the initial letter or letters or some contraction of the first name or names, instead of stating the first name in full.

When the plaintiff does not know the name of the defendant, the defendant may be designated in any pleading or proceeding by any name. When the defendant's true name is discovered, the pleadings or proceedings may be amended accordingly.

When two or more persons associated in any business transact such business under a common name, whether it comprise the names of such persons or not, the associates may be sued by such common name, the summons in such cases being served on one or more of the associates; and the j…

A married person may sue and be sued in the same manner as if such person were sole.

If a husband and wife are sued together, each spouse may defend for the spouse's own right, and if the other spouse fails to defend, the spouse who does choose to defend may defend for the other spouse's right also.

In an action brought by a person out of possession of real property to determine an adverse claim of an interest or estate in the property, the person making the adverse claim and the persons in possession may be joined as defendants, and if the judgment is for the plaintiff, the…

In any action or proceeding brought in any district court of the state affecting the title to real or personal property in which the state has or claims to have an interest or claim, the state may be made a party defendant to such action or proceeding and its rights or interests …

When a guardian ad litem is appointed by the court, the guardian ad litem must be appointed as follows: (1) when the minor is plaintiff, upon the application of the minor if the minor is 14 years of age or, if under that age, upon the application of a relative or friend of the mi…

Issues arise upon the pleadings when a fact or conclusion of law is maintained by the one party and is controverted by the other. They are of two kinds: (1) of law; and (2) of fact.

Except as provided in Article II, section 7, of the Montana constitution, all questions of law, including the admissibility of testimony, the facts preliminary to such admission, the construction of statutes and other writings, and other rules of evidence, are to be decided by th…

All questions of fact, where the trial is by jury, other than those mentioned in 25-7-102 are to be decided by the jury, and all evidence thereon is to be addressed to them, except when otherwise provided by this code.

Where the defendant interposes a counterclaim and thereupon demands an affirmative judgment against the plaintiff, the mode of trial of an issue of fact arising thereupon is the same as if it arose in an action brought by the defendant against the plaintiff for the cause of actio…