Letter to a bank or other holder in Montana

A letter that presents the small estate affidavit you have already signed. It says what you enclose and asks the holder to release the property.

Required when you mail the letter.

It goes into the letter only. It is never saved or sent to us.

Papers you are enclosing

Check what you will include. Only checked items go in the letter.

It goes into the letter as you type it. You can add a ready-made sentence:

Other formats

Do not send original documents unless the holder asks; keep copies. Sign the letter and keep a copy.

Official forms (linked, not reproduced here)

This site does not write the affidavit. Use the official form or the holder's own form:

Before you send it

Some banks have their own form or ask for a notary. Call the bank's estates department first and ask what it needs. Keep a copy of everything you send.

Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property

A sworn statement you give to a bank, company or person holding the person's personal property, so they pay or deliver it to you. It is not filed with a court.

Limit

Up to $100,000 Counted after subtracting liens (what is owed on the property).

The probate estate, wherever located, minus liens and encumbrances, cannot be worth more than $100,000. The limit was raised from $50,000 by a 2023 law. Separately, the Department of Revenue may refund unclaimed property of $5,000 or less to a successor, whatever the size of the estate.

What counts

The value of the person's probate estate, wherever located, minus liens and encumbrances. Property that passes to a named beneficiary or a surviving joint owner is not part of the probate estate.

Waiting period

At least 30 days must have passed since the death.

Who can use it

A person claiming to be the successor of the person who died (someone entitled to the property under the will or by Montana inheritance law), or someone acting on the successor's behalf. No application or petition to appoint a personal representative can be pending or granted anywhere.

Court or where to file

Not filed with a court. You give a copy to each bank, company or person holding the property.

Notary

The court-approved form is signed and dated in front of a notary public.

Papers to attach
  • Copy of the death certificate (many holders ask for one)
  • For a vehicle: the Motor Vehicle Division title application named in the packet
Steps
  1. Wait until at least 30 days after the death.
  2. Make sure no one has gone to court to be appointed personal representative.
  3. Add up the probate estate, wherever located, minus liens and encumbrances; it must be $100,000 or less.
  4. Fill in the Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property and sign it in front of a notary.
  5. Make copies, and give a copy of the affidavit and the death certificate to each holder of the property.
Fee

There is no court filing fee because the affidavit is not filed with a court. The Motor Vehicle Division charges a fee for a new vehicle title.

Debts and responsibility

A person who receives property by affidavit is answerable and accountable for it to any personal representative of the estate and to any other person with a better right. If a holder asks you to sign an agreement to protect it, you may later have to repay if the transfer was wrong.

What the bank or holder must do

On a proper affidavit, the holder must pay or deliver the property, and a transfer agent must re-register securities. A holder who pays is discharged and released as if it had dealt with a personal representative and does not have to check the statements. If the holder refuses, the property can be recovered in a court proceeding.

Law: MCA 72-3-1101, 72-3-1102

Source: Official page

Bank accounts after a death in Montana

If you were named as a beneficiary of the account or co-owned a joint account with the person, you may not need the affidavit; ask the bank. For an account in the person's name alone, the successor can use the Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property 30 days after the death if the probate estate, minus liens, is $100,000 or less. The bank must pay on a proper affidavit and is then released.

Law: MCA 72-3-1101, 72-3-1102

Source: Official page

Transfer-on-death (TOD) and payable-on-death (POD) in Montana

Bank account (POD)

Yes

Law: MCA 72-6-212

Source: Official page

Death certificates in Montana

Certified death certificates are available from the Office of Vital Statistics, Montana DPHHS, 111 N Sanders, P.O. Box 4210, Helena, MT. The CDC directory lists the fee as $16.00 per copy; check the current fee with the office.

Where to get it
Montana DPHHS, Office of Vital Statistics, or the clerk and recorder in the county of death
Official page
Official page

Surviving spouse in Montana

Montana follows the Uniform Probate Code: a surviving spouse is entitled to a homestead allowance, exempt property and a family allowance, which come ahead of most creditors. If a personal representative is appointed and the estate is no more than these allowances plus funeral, administration and last-illness costs, it can be distributed right away under the summary procedure. The spouse inherits everything with no will if all the person's descendants are also the spouse's.

Law: MCA 72-3-1103; MCA 72-2-112

Who inherits with no will in Montana

If there is no will, the surviving spouse gets everything if the person left no descendants or parents, or if all the person's descendants are also the spouse's and the spouse has no other descendants. Otherwise the spouse gets a set amount plus a share of the rest: $300,000 plus three-fourths if no descendant but a parent survives; $225,000 plus one-half if the spouse has other descendants; $150,000 plus one-half if the person has descendants who are not the spouse's. The rest goes to descendants, then parents, then brothers and sisters and their descendants, then grandparents' families.

Law: MCA 72-2-112, 72-2-113

Source: Official page

Good to know in Montana

  • Montana's small estate affidavit limit is $100,000 of probate estate, wherever located, minus liens and encumbrances; it was $50,000 before a 2023 amendment.
  • The Montana Department of Revenue may refund unclaimed property of $5,000 or less to a successor regardless of the estate's value.
  • Montana's Medicaid program can recover from people who received the person's property by survivorship, joint tenancy or living trust, not only from the probate estate.

Changes in 2024–2026

Ch. 47, L. 2025 amended the vehicle transfer-on-death title law. The $100,000 affidavit limit dates from Ch. 453, L. 2023.

Law: MCA 61-3-226

Related pages

Free help in Montana

A court self-help center or a legal aid office can check whether the estate qualifies, free of charge or at low cost.