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Montana source record

Every source behind the Montana guide

4 primary records, quoted verbatim and checked against 12 named presence or absence conditions that must pass against the live government text. Open the record, read the words the publishing body actually used, and confirm the current rule for yourself.

Last full re-fetch September 15, 2026

What each source establishes

The Montana guide rests on the source-backed rules this site can verify for the state: which simplified procedure exists and what it limits, what the court charges, how the person administering the estate may be paid, and the statutory creditor-deadline clocks the official text states.Every published rule below is quoted in the publisher’s own words rather than summarised.

Simplified-procedure rule

Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-1101

Montana Legislature (Legislative Services Division) · Montana Code Annotated 2025 · Verified August 9, 2026

(a) the value of the probate estate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $100,000, except as provided in subsection (2); (b) 30 days have elapsed since the death of the decedent

What was published from this source

  • MT Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-1101

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • threshold $100,000 net of liens, 30 days
  • section identity 72-3-1101
  • section identity

Response digest 9444458cca8eb744… · HTTP 200

Executor compensation rule

Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-631

Montana Legislature (Legislative Services Division) · Montana Code Annotated 2025 · Verified August 9, 2026

72-3-631 . Compensation of personal representative. (1) A personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation for services.

What this means: The cohort brief speculated Montana had a 3%/2% statutory percentage schedule; the harvested primary text refutes that — § 72-3-631 sets only a reasonable-compensation standard. Primary text governs.

What was published from this source

  • MT Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-631

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • reasonable compensation standard
  • section identity 72-3-631
  • section identity

Response digest d79f0878c03167e2… · HTTP 200

Court cost rule

Mont. Code Ann. § 25-1-201(1)(m)

Montana Legislature (Legislative Services Division) · Montana Code Annotated 2025 · Verified August 9, 2026

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.

What was published from this source

  • MT Mont. Code Ann. § 25-1-201(1)(m)

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • probate application fee $70
  • section identity 25-1-201
  • section identity

Response digest f451b77c65949e9c… · HTTP 200

Creditor deadline rule

Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-803(1)(a)

Montana Legislature (Legislative Services Division) · Montana Code Annotated 2025 · Verified August 9, 2026

within 1 year after the decedent's death; or (b) within the time provided by 72-3-801 (2) for creditors who are given actual notice and within the time provided in 72-3-801 (1) for all creditors barred by publication.

What was published from this source

  • MT Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-803(1)(a)

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • outer nonclaim 1 year
  • section identity 72-3-803
  • section identity

Response digest ce079be444b3e6e1… · HTTP 200

Statutes read in full for Montana

These are the Montana provisions read end to end on the enacting state’s own site, rather than summarised from a secondary source. The middle column is what reading each one actually established for Montana — not a restatement of the topic — and the last column records the date the wording was read, so a later amendment can be spotted by comparing dates.

CitationWhat reading it establishedRead on
MCA § 25-1-201Montana charges a general district-court filing fee, not a probate-specific one — court and filing cost note2026-09-17
MCA § 72-3-803Montana bars most claims one year after death, and binds nonprobate transferees too — creditor deadline note2026-09-17
MCA § 72-3-1101Montana’s $100,000 ceiling has a carve-out that ignores the size of the estate — small estate route note2026-09-17
MCA § 72-3-631Montana’s fee statute is the uniform text, so the renunciation timing is what decides outcomes — representative pay note2026-09-17

Montana source decision map

How the Montana records fit together

The source record is most useful when each citation has a job. This map links the Montana procedure, cost, compensation, and deadline records to the decision each one can and cannot answer.

QuestionRecorded Montana answerCarry 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?$100,000Use 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.

Decision boundary

What the Montana source set does not silently decide

The Montana records establish the rules listed above, but they do not turn a source citation into advice about title, family priority, tax filing, contested proceedings, or the exact clerk practice in every county. Those questions stay with the official court or a qualified adviser. The useful next step is to match the question to the citation rather than treating the longest quote as the answer to every estate problem.

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 amountComparison to the Montana ceilingWhat it does not decide
$75,000Below $100,000Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties
$125,000Above $100,000Whether another statutory route or court process applies

Next evidence to collect

Open the quoted record for the row you rely on and check the publisher's current text before filing.

  1. Record the date of death, the county, and the exact proceeding or affidavit being considered.
  2. Classify each asset by title, beneficiary, trust, real-property status, and the value basis shown above.
  3. Open the official court material below and keep its form or schedule with the estate record.
  4. Do not distribute property until the route, creditor position, and required approvals are resolved.

Official material

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

What Montana courts publish

The statutes on this page state the rule. These are the documents the court itself publishes. Every link is probed before release, and any link that stops resolving fails the build rather than staying on the page.

Limits on court material

  • 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.

Checking these Montana records against the publishers

Every citation above links to the body that publishes it, and every quoted sentence is reproduced exactly, so a text search on the publisher’s own page should land on it. Where the publisher’s current wording differs from what is recorded here, the publisher governs and this page is wrong; naming the citation and the language you see maps the difference onto a specific condition rather than a general complaint. The full procedure, including how a source qualifies in the first place and what disqualifies one, is set out once on the methodology page instead of being restated on each of the254 state records.

These records cover the cost and route questions this site answers for Montana. They do not cover intestate succession shares, spousal and family allowances, creditor priority, tax filing obligations, real-property transfer mechanics, or contested proceedings. Where an answer would require one of those, the site says so rather than estimating.

Return to the Montana estate guide ·All 254 records ·Dataset overview and citation ·How sources are selected