Probate in Montana: do you need a lawyer, and what it costs

Settling an estate in Montana

What an executor deals with after the funeral: the will, the court, creditors, tax and closing the estate. Each fact links to the statute it comes from and shows the date we last read it.

Filing the original will

In Montana, if you hold the original will of the person who died, you must hand it over with reasonable promptness, when an interested person asks, to someone who can get it probated, or to the court if no such person is known. The law sets no fixed number of days.

Mont. Code Ann. § 72-2-536Read the statute · mca.legmt.govchecked Oct 5, 2026

Which court handles probate

In Montana, probate is handled by the district court in the county where the person who died lived. If they lived out of state, it can be opened in any Montana county where they owned property.

Mont. Code Ann. §§ 72-3-111, 72-3-112Read the statute · mca.legmt.govchecked Oct 5, 2026

Creditors' deadline to make claims

In Montana, the executor or administrator (called the personal representative) must publish a notice to creditors once a week for three weeks after being appointed. Creditors then have four months from the first publication to present claims. Creditors mailed a notice get four months from publication or 30 days from the mailing, whichever is later. All claims from before the death are cut off one year after the death.

Mont. Code Ann. §§ 72-3-801, 72-3-803Read the statute · mca.legmt.govchecked Oct 5, 2026

Estate inventory

In Montana, the executor or administrator (called the personal representative) must prepare an inventory of the probate property of the person who died, with values as of the date of death, within nine months after being appointed. It can be filed with the court or sent to the heirs, beneficiaries and unpaid creditors who ask for it.

Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-607Read the statute · mca.legmt.govchecked Oct 5, 2026

The order estate debts are paid

In Montana, if the estate cannot pay every bill, the executor or administrator pays them in a set order: estate administration costs first, then funeral and last illness medical bills, then federal and Montana estate taxes, then child support owed, then other debts with priority under federal or Montana law, then other federal and Montana taxes, then everything else.

Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-807Read the statute · mca.legmt.govchecked Oct 5, 2026

State estate and inheritance tax

Montana has no inheritance tax, and in practice no estate tax for current deaths. Its estate tax law is still on the books but equals the old federal credit for state death taxes, which no longer exists.

Mont. Code Ann. §§ 72-16-904, 72-16-905Read the statute · revenue.mt.govchecked Oct 5, 2026

Closing an estate

In Montana, most estates are closed by the executor or administrator (called the personal representative) filing a sworn closing statement with the court, no earlier than six months after appointment, saying the creditor deadline has passed, debts and taxes are handled and the property has been given out. Before closing, they must file or deliver a sworn final accounting.

Mont. Code Ann. §§ 72-3-1001, 72-3-1004, 72-3-1005Read the statute · mca.legmt.govchecked Oct 5, 2026