Estate planning rules in Montana

Wills

Montana permits proof beyond the text to establish that a document was intended as a will, including proof about portions of a holographic will that are not in the testator's handwriting.

Intestate shares for a surviving spouse

A surviving spouse receives the entire intestate estate if the decedent leaves no surviving descendant or parent, or if all surviving descendants are shared and the spouse has no other surviving descendant.

When the decedent leaves descendants who are not descendants of the surviving spouse, the spouse receives the first $150,000 and half of the balance of the intestate estate.

Guardianship

Montana law provides that guardianship may be used only as necessary to promote and protect the person's well-being. It must encourage maximum self-reliance and independence.

Tax

Montana says it has no estate tax for deaths after the federal credit ended, though an estate of an earlier decedent may still have a filing requirement.

A fiduciary of a decedent's estate must file a Montana income tax return for estates and trusts, Form FID-3, if the fiduciary filed federal Form 1041 and the decedent owned Montana property at death or has income from Montana sources.

Conservation easements and tenancy by the entirety

A conservation easement under Title 76, chapter 6 does not create a charitable trust unless the settlor clearly expresses that intention in the easement instrument.

The Montana Supreme Court treated a sculpture acquired as tenancy by the entirety in Missouri as no longer held that way after it was moved to Montana.

Thresholds and rates change. Check the state's own current figures.