Publication
Newspaper pricing is commercial rather than a statewide fee.
Montana court costs
Montana probate filing cost: $70
MCA § 25-1-201(1)(m) sets a probate-specific fee: on the filing of an application for informal, formal, or supervised probate or for the appointment of a personal representative, the clerk of district court collects $70 from the applicant, "which includes the fee for filing a will for probate". This probate-specific subsection governs over the general civil-commencement fee in § 25-1-201(1)(a), so the opening fee for a probate proceeding is $70. The § 72-3-1101 affidavit route requires no court filing.
$70 is the amount the statute states. Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch September 15, 2026.
What the statute charges
Montana states one statewide amount rather than a schedule of components, so there is no line-by-line breakdown to compute. The figure above is that amount. It is a court charge only, and it is not an estimate of the total cost of settling an estate.
Montana publishes no component breakdown for this cost.
The statute states one statewide amount rather than a schedule of parts, so there is nothing to itemise. The figure shown above is that amount, and the linked source is the text that sets it.
What the $70 is made of
Montana’s $70 figure is a single statutory charge, not a total assembled from parts. It is shown here with its own provision named, and with the neighbouring charges the Montana schedule prices separately — the ones a filer is most likely to add to it by mistake, or to be quoted alongside it.
- $70Application for informal, formal or supervised probate, MCA s 25-1-201(1)(m)
Added together, these come to $70 — the figure this page headlines. If any component changed in the source, the sum would no longer match, and the build withholds the total rather than publishing a number whose parts no longer add up.
Costs no statute prices
These are the costs executors most often meet after the filing fee. None of them has a statewide statutory amount, so this site does not estimate them.
Bond
Premiums depend on the bond amount, the estate, and the applicant.
Copies and local charges
Certified copies, recording, inventory, accounting, and county surcharges are billed separately.
Professional fees
Attorney, accountant, and appraiser fees are negotiated or court-reviewed.
State-specific limits
Use this as a starting point.
This is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Probate law varies by state and county and changes over time. Verify the current rule with the court or a licensed attorney in the relevant state.
How to verify the amount for this case
Name the proceeding before asking for a total. A small-estate affidavit, an application for letters, formal administration, a later inventory or account, and a certified copy can each carry a different charge. Asking only “what does probate cost?” invites an answer for the wrong filing.
- Identify the county where the proceeding will be filed.
- Identify the exact route or petition you expect to use.
- State the value basis the schedule uses; it is not always the gross estate value.
- Ask the clerk to separate the opening fee, mandatory surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings.
- Record the schedule date or rule cited.
- Record whether payment is due at filing.
Keep that clerk quote with the estate record and compare it with the itemised statutory lines above. For the broader budget, use the probate cost-line guide; court filing is only one category.
Montana charges a general district-court filing fee, not a probate-specific one
Montana does not publish a separate probate tariff. MCA § 25-1-201(1)(a) charges the clerk of district court "at the commencement of each action or proceeding, except a petition for dissolution of marriage, from the plaintiff or petitioner, $90." A probate is a proceeding commenced in district court, so that is the opening line.
Two further charges attach to the shape of the case rather than to its subject. Subsection (1)(b) takes $60 "from each defendant or respondent, on appearance," and subsection (1)(c) takes $50 "on the entry of judgment, from the prevailing party." An uncontested Montana administration will usually never reach the second of those; a contested one can incur both repeatedly.
The routine administrative costs are metered per item, not bundled: $1 a page for the first ten pages of each file per request and 50 cents for each additional page, 25 cents per page when copies are supplied by facsimile, e-mail or other electronic means, $2 for each certificate with seal, and $1 for an oath and jurat with seal.
Record searches are priced by name and by year: $2 for each name for each year searched for up to seven years, plus $1 for each name for any additional year. A long title history therefore has a measurable, arithmetic cost in Montana rather than a flat one.
Source: MCA § 25-1-201, read from the enacting state’s own published code on 2026-09-17. Quoted wording is the statute’s; the surrounding explanation is this site’s reading of it and is not legal advice.
Montana filing-cost map
Separate the Montana filing charge from the estate budget
The Montana filing record prices a proceeding, not every cost of settling an estate. This map connects the published amount or schedule to its value basis and identifies the local items that still need a clerk or court schedule.
| Question | Recorded Montana answer | Carry into the case |
|---|---|---|
| What route is being screened? | Collection of personal property by affidavit (MCA § 72-3-1101) | Confirm that the will, prior appointment, family facts, and asset titles fit this route. |
| What property and basis count? | personal probate property only; net of enforceable liens and encumbrances. | Keep real property, liens, beneficiary transfers, and survivorship transfers classified separately. |
| What is the amount screen? | $100,000 | Use the counted property, not a bank-balance shortcut. |
| What is the time or deadline record? | 30 days after death; Montana runs multiple independently-triggered claim deadlines that cannot honestly collapse into one number: a four-month bar from first publication of the notice to creditors (§ 72-3-801(1)); an actual-notice period of four months from published notice or 30 days from mailing, whichever is later (§ 72-3-801(2)); and an outer nonclaim bar of one year after death (§ 72-3-803(1)(a)). Publishing a single figure would mislead. | Keep the event that starts each clock with the date; do not combine separate periods into one number. |
| What does the cost record establish? | $70 is the recorded statewide amount. | Ask the District Court about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings. |
| What does compensation use? | MCA § 72-3-631(1) entitles a personal representative to "reasonable compensation for services." Contrary to a common assumption, Montana's Uniform Probate Code enactment does NOT set a statutory percentage schedule (the harvested § 72-3-631 text states only a reasonable-compensation standard). A will may fix compensation, but the personal representative may renounce that provision before qualifying and take reasonable compensation instead. The relevant base is the estate accounting. | Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate. |
Filing record
What the Montana cost record can answer
Montana has no single statewide schedule in the accepted record.
MCA § 25-1-201(1)(m) sets a probate-specific fee: on the filing of an application for informal, formal, or supervised probate or for the appointment of a personal representative, the clerk of district court collects $70 from the applicant, "which includes the fee for filing a will for probate". This probate-specific subsection governs over the general civil-commencement fee in § 25-1-201(1)(a), so the opening fee for a probate proceeding is $70. The § 72-3-1101 affidavit route requires no court filing. This page therefore names the local confirmation path instead of turning a base charge into a statewide estimate.
Case-file context
Keep the Montana answer with its neighboring conditions
A route answer is easier to use when the facts that can change it stay in the same record. These are the reviewed Montana descriptions adjacent to this page\'s main question; they are not a substitute for the source quotations or the receiving court\'s instructions.
Route context
Montana is a Uniform Probate Code state. Personal property of a decedent whose probate estate (net of liens and encumbrances) does not exceed $100,000 can be collected by affidavit under MCA § 72-3-1101, 30 days after death, with no court filing. Probate proceedings are filed in the District Court, where the probate-specific opening fee is $70 under MCA § 25-1-201(1)(m). Personal representatives receive reasonable compensation under § 72-3-631 — Montana sets no statutory percentage schedule.
Montana allows collection of a decedent's personal property by affidavit under MCA § 72-3-1101 when "the value of the probate estate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $100,000", 30 days have elapsed since death, and no application or petition for appointment of a personal representative is pending or has been granted. (Unclaimed property of $5,000 or less may be refunded by the Department of Revenue regardless of estate value.)
Compensation context
MCA § 72-3-631(1) entitles a personal representative to "reasonable compensation for services." Contrary to a common assumption, Montana's Uniform Probate Code enactment does NOT set a statutory percentage schedule (the harvested § 72-3-631 text states only a reasonable-compensation standard). A will may fix compensation, but the personal representative may renounce that provision before qualifying and take reasonable compensation instead.
MCA § 72-3-631(1) entitles a personal representative to "reasonable compensation for services." Contrary to a common assumption, Montana's Uniform Probate Code enactment does NOT set a statutory percentage schedule (the harvested § 72-3-631 text states only a reasonable-compensation standard). A will may fix compensation, but the personal representative may renounce that provision before qualifying and take reasonable compensation instead. The relevant base is the estate accounting.
Deadline context
Montana runs multiple independently-triggered claim deadlines that cannot honestly collapse into one number: a four-month bar from first publication of the notice to creditors (§ 72-3-801(1)); an actual-notice period of four months from published notice or 30 days from mailing, whichever is later (§ 72-3-801(2)); and an outer nonclaim bar of one year after death (§ 72-3-803(1)(a)). Publishing a single figure would mislead.
Court-material note: Probate in Montana is handled by the District Court. The Judicial Branch publishes statewide self-help resources and forms. The $70 probate fee is fixed statewide by MCA § 25-1-201(1)(m); the § 72-3-1101 affidavit is a private demand instrument, not a court filing.
Arithmetic illustration
See the Montana amount screen without mistaking it for a result
The recorded Montana ceiling is $100,000, and it is tested against personal probate property only, on a basis this site records as net of enforceable liens and encumbrances. Counted that way, $75,000 sits below the Montana figure and $125,000 sits above it. Both are comparisons to a published number rather than legal outcomes: two estates holding the same total can land on opposite sides of this line, because what Montana counts and how it values it are decided before the comparison is made.
| Illustrative counted amount | Comparison to the Montana ceiling | What it does not decide |
|---|---|---|
| $75,000 | Below $100,000 | Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties |
| $125,000 | Above $100,000 | Whether another statutory route or court process applies |
Next evidence to collect
Name the proceeding and ask for mandatory surcharges, copies, publication, and later filings separately.
- Record the date of death, the county, and the exact proceeding or affidavit being considered.
- Classify each asset by title, beneficiary, trust, real-property status, and the value basis shown above.
- Open the official court material below and keep its form or schedule with the estate record.
- Do not distribute property until the route, creditor position, and required approvals are resolved.
Official material
- Montana Courts — Self-Help Law ProgramMontana Judicial Branch
- Montana Courts — FormsMontana Judicial Branch
Probate in Montana is handled by the District Court. The Judicial Branch publishes statewide self-help resources and forms. The $70 probate fee is fixed statewide by MCA § 25-1-201(1)(m); the § 72-3-1101 affidavit is a private demand instrument, not a court filing.
Source trail
Records used by this Montana map
- Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-1101MCA § 72-3-1101 — Collection of personal property by affidavit; reviewed August 9, 2026
- Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-631MCA § 72-3-631 — Compensation of personal representative; reviewed August 9, 2026
- Mont. Code Ann. § 25-1-201(1)(m)MCA § 25-1-201 — Fees of clerk of district court; reviewed August 9, 2026
- Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-803(1)(a)MCA § 72-3-803 — Nonclaim; limitations on presentation of claims; reviewed August 9, 2026
Filing-cost source
Each legal input links to the government source reviewed for this page. Source text can change; confirm the current rule before acting.
Mont. Code Ann. § 25-1-201(1)(m)
Reviewed source note: on the filing of an application for informal, formal, or supervised probate or for the appointment of a personal representative or the filing of a petition for the appointment of a guardian or conservator, from the applicant or petitioner, $70, which includes the fee for filing a will for probate
What this means: The prior draft cited the general $90 civil-commencement fee in § 25-1-201(1)(a). Subsection (1)(m) is probate-specific and controls: it fixes a $70 fee on the filing of an application for informal, formal, or supervised probate or for the appointment of a personal representative, and states the fee includes filing a will for probate. The specific provision governs over the general.