Title 72, Title 72

Should any provision of this code conflict with any provisions of other statutes of the state of Montana relating to probate, guardianship, or other subjects incorporated in this code and such other statute or statutes was or were adopted prior to the enactment of this code, the …

(1) This code takes effect on July 1, 1975. (2) Except as provided elsewhere in this code, on July 1, 1975: (a) the code applies to any wills of decedents dying thereafter; (b) the code applies to any proceedings in court then pending or thereafter commenced regardless of the tim…

In addition to the rules of evidence in courts of general jurisdiction, the following rules relating to a determination of death or status apply: (1) Death occurs when an individual is determined to be dead under 50-22-101. (2) A certified or authenticated copy of a death certifi…

For the purpose of granting consent or approval with regard to the acts or accounts of a personal representative, including relief from liability or penalty for failure to post bond, or to perform other duties, the sole holder or all coholders of a presently exercisable general p…

(1) Whenever fraud has been perpetrated in connection with any proceeding or in any statement filed under this code or if fraud is used to avoid or circumvent the provisions or purposes of this code, a person injured by the fraud may obtain appropriate relief, including restituti…

Except as otherwise provided in this code, this code applies to: (1) the affairs and estates of decedents, missing persons, and persons to be protected in this state; (2) the property of nonresidents located in this state or property coming into the control of a fiduciary who is …

(1) To the full extent permitted by the constitution, the court has jurisdiction over all subject matter relating to: (a) estates of decedents, including construction of wills and determination of heirs and successors of decedents, and estates of protected persons; and (b) protec…

(1) Where venue for a proceeding under this code may lie in more than one county in the state, the court in which the proceeding is first commenced has the exclusive right to proceed. (2) If proceedings concerning the same estate, protected person, ward, or trust are commenced in…

(1) The clerk of court shall keep a record for each decedent, ward, protected person, or trust involved in any document which may be filed with the court under this code, including petitions and applications, demands for notices or bonds, and of any orders or responses relating t…

The acts and orders which this code specifies as performable by the clerk of court may be performed either by a judge of the court or by the clerk of court.

(1) Except as otherwise specifically provided in this code, every document filed with the court under this code, including applications, petitions, reports, accounts, objections, responses, and demands for notice, must include an oath, affirmation, declaration under penalty of pe…

Unless specifically provided to the contrary in this code or unless inconsistent with its provisions, the rules of civil procedure, including the rules concerning vacation of orders and appellate review, govern formal proceedings under this code.

(1) If duly demanded, a party is entitled to trial by jury in a formal testacy proceeding, and any proceeding in which any controverted question of fact arises as to which any party has a constitutional right to trial by jury. (2) If there is no right to trial by jury under subse…

Appellate review, including the right to appellate review, interlocutory appeal, provisions as to time, manner, notice, appeal bond, stays, scope of review, record on appeal, briefs, arguments, and power of the appellate court, is governed by the statutes and rules applicable to …

(1) If notice of a hearing on any petition is required and except for specific notice requirements as otherwise provided, the petitioner shall cause notice of the time and place of hearing of any petition to be given to any interested person or the person's attorney if the person…

A person, including a guardian ad litem, conservator, or other fiduciary, may waive notice by a writing signed by the person or the person's attorney and filed in the proceeding. A person for whom a guardianship or other protective order is sought, a ward, or a protected person m…

In formal proceedings involving trusts or estates of decedents, minors, protected persons, or incapacitated persons and in judicially supervised settlements, the following apply: (1) Interests to be affected must be described in pleadings that give reasonable information to owner…

(1) The following pleadings are permitted in probate proceedings: (a) an application, petition, report, or account filed pursuant to this title; and (b) an objection or response filed pursuant to this title to an application, petition, report, or account. (2) Except as provided i…

In any probate matter, an affidavit or verified petition must be received as evidence when offered in an uncontested proceeding under this title.

In addition to the verification required by 25-4-203 and 72-1-310, every application and other pleading filed in connection with any probate proceeding must be signed by the attorney of the person filing the pleading if the person is represented by an attorney. The verification m…

This part may be cited as the "Uniform Statutory Rule Against Perpetuities".

(1) A nonvested property interest is invalid unless: (a) when the interest is created, it is certain to vest or terminate no later than 21 years after the death of an individual then alive; or (b) the interest either vests or terminates within 90 years after its creation. (2) A g…

(1) Except as provided in 72-2-1005 and subsections (2) and (3) of this section, the time of creation of a nonvested property interest or a power of appointment is determined under general principles of property law. (2) For purposes of this part, if there is a person who alone c…

Upon the petition of an interested person, a court shall reform a disposition in the manner that most closely approximates the transferor's manifested plan of distribution and that is within the 90 years allowed by 72-2-1002(1)(b), (2)(b), or (3)(b) if: (1) a nonvested property i…

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 …