Montana Creditor Claims in Probate

Montana creditor claims run on a short clock that the personal representative has to start. Publishing notice to creditors is mandatory under MCA 72-3-801(1), and creditors then have 4 months from the first publication to present a claim or lose it. A creditor who also gets written notice by mail has the later of those 4 months or 30 days from the mailing. Behind both sits a hard stop: under 72-3-803(1)(a), every claim that arose before the death is barred 1 year after the death.

Most people reading this are worried about one thing. You pay the family, a hospital bill arrives in month ten, and the money is gone. Montana answers that worry with a calendar, and this page walks through it in order: notice, presentation, allowance, payment, and what still reaches property after the estate closes.

A note on the links. Every rule below was read on September 27, 2026 at its section page on mca.legmt.gov, the Montana Legislature's host for the Montana Code Annotated 2025. The Legislature meets in odd years, so the 2025 code is the text in force. Read this beside the personal representative's duties, and start from the Montana probate guide if the estate is not open yet. This is general information about Montana law, not advice about one estate, so confirm your dates with the district court clerk holding the file or with a licensed Montana attorney.

Publishing Notice Is Mandatory in Montana

Some states let the personal representative choose. Montana does not. MCA 72-3-801(1) says a personal representative "upon appointment shall publish a notice once a week for 3 successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county." The one exception is a notice that has already been given under the same section, which covers a successor personal representative stepping into an estate where the first one already published.

The notice has three jobs:

1. announce the personal representative's appointment,
2. give the personal representative's address, and
3. tell creditors to present their claims within 4 months after the date of the first publication "or be forever barred."

The 4 months run from the FIRST publication, not the third. If the notice first runs on March 5, the published window closes 4 months later, on July 5.

One protection comes with the duty. Under 72-3-801(3), the personal representative "is not liable to any creditor or to any successor of the decedent for giving or failing to give notice under this section." That shield covers the notice decision only. It does not cover paying the wrong people too early, which is its own section further down.

Written Notice to a Known Creditor

Publication reaches creditors nobody can name. For the ones you already know about, such as the mortgage servicer, the card issuer, the hospital and the utility, 72-3-801(2) lets the personal representative give written notice by mail or other delivery.

That creditor then has to present the claim within 4 months from the published notice, or within 30 days from the mailing or other delivery, whichever is later. The written notice has to be the published notice itself or a similar notice.

Here is why that matters. Mailing notice to a known creditor in month three of a 4-month window still gives that creditor a full 30 days. Notice mailed right after the first publication generally lets the 4-month date control and keeps the estate on one calendar.

The One-Year Bar, and Why "Earlier Of" Runs the Calendar

MCA 72-3-803(1) covers every claim that arose before the death, including claims of the state and its subdivisions, whether due or not, contingent or not, and whether founded on contract, tort or anything else. Those claims are barred against the estate, the personal representative, the heirs and devisees, and the nonprobate transferees unless presented within the EARLIER of:

• 1 year after the decedent's death, or
• the time in 72-3-801(2) for creditors given actual notice, and the time in 72-3-801(1) for everyone barred by publication.

Let's break it down with two estates.

• Published promptly. The personal representative is appointed two months after the death and publishes right away. The 4-month window closes about six months after the death, well inside the year, so the publication date controls.
• Published late. Nobody opens the estate until month ten. Publication still has to happen, but the 1-year bar arrives first, at month twelve, and it cuts off every pre-death claim no matter when the notice ran.

Two other rules sit beside the bar. Under 72-3-803(2), a claim already barred by the nonclaim statute of the decedent's home state, before notice to creditors was given in Montana, is barred in Montana too. And MCA 72-3-802 suspends any other statute of limitations measured from some event other than death for the 4 months after the death, treats a proper presentation as starting a proceeding on the claim, and bars paying a claim that was already time-barred when the person died, unless the estate is solvent and every affected successor agrees to waive the defense.

Claims That Arise After the Death

Debts the estate runs up during administration follow 72-3-803(3), which also reaches claims of the state:

• a claim based on a contract with the personal representative must be presented within 4 months after the personal representative's performance is due, and
• any other claim must be presented within the later of 4 months after it arises or 1 year after the death.

So a contractor who repairs the house for the estate has 4 months from the date the estate owed payment.

What the Bar Does Not Reach

72-3-803(4) lists three things the section does not affect or prevent:

1. a proceeding to enforce a mortgage, pledge or other lien on estate property,
2. a proceeding to establish liability of the decedent or the personal representative that liability insurance covers, up to the limits of the insurance only, and
3. collecting compensation and expense reimbursement owed to the personal representative, or to the personal representative's attorney or accountant.

The lien rule matters most for a house. A mortgage lender that misses the 4-month window can still foreclose on the property. Any deficiency beyond the property's value is a claim against the estate and runs on the same clock as every other claim. MCA 72-3-104(2) says the same thing from the other side: the rule against suing before appointment does not apply to a secured creditor enforcing its security, except as to any deficiency judgment.

How a Creditor Presents a Claim

MCA 72-3-804(1) gives a creditor two ways to present a claim:

• mail the personal representative, return receipt requested, a written statement of the claim giving its basis, the claimant's name and address, and the amount claimed, or
• file a written statement of the claim, in the form prescribed by rule, with the clerk of the court.

The claim counts as presented on whichever comes first: the personal representative receiving the statement, or the filing with the court. A claim not yet due has to state its due date. A contingent or unliquidated claim has to state the nature of the uncertainty. A secured claim has to describe the security. Getting those details wrong does not cancel the presentation.

A creditor can also skip the statement and sue the personal representative in any court with jurisdiction, under 72-3-804(2), as long as the suit starts within the time for presenting the claim. A lawsuit already pending against the decedent at death needs no separate presentation.

Two limits frame all of this. Under 72-3-104(1), nobody can start or revive a proceeding to enforce a claim against the estate before a personal representative is appointed. And under MCA 72-3-502(9), any creditor can seek appointment as personal representative once 45 days have passed since the death, last in line behind the will's nominee, family members, heirs and the public administrator. A creditor stuck waiting on an estate nobody opens has that route.

Allowing, Disallowing, and What Silence Does

MCA 72-3-805(1) lets the personal representative mail a claimant a notice that the claim is disallowed. The disallowance bars the claim, to the extent it is not allowed, unless the claimant petitions the court for allowance or sues the personal representative within 60 days after the mailing. That bar only works if the notice warns the claimant of it.

Then comes the rule that surprises people. If the personal representative mails no notice of action on a claim for 60 days after the time for original presentation has expired, "the failure has the effect of a notice of allowance." Ignoring a claim allows it.

A few more rules from the same section and its neighbors:

• The personal representative can change an allowance to a disallowance before payment, but not after a court order or judgment allows the claim, and has to notify the claimant of the change (72-3-805(2)).
• A barred claim can be allowed and paid only if the estate is solvent and every affected successor consents (72-3-805(2)).
• An allowed claim earns interest at the legal rate starting 60 days after the time for original presentation expires, unless a contract sets its own interest (72-3-805(5)).
• A creditor who received a disallowance notice after presenting under 72-3-804(1) cannot sue more than 60 days after that notice was mailed, subject to limited extensions for claims not yet due, contingent or unliquidated (72-3-804(3)).
• In allowing a claim, the personal representative may deduct any counterclaim the estate holds against the claimant, even one from a different transaction (MCA 72-3-806).

Paying Claims: Timing, Order and the Liability Trap

MCA 72-3-808(1) tells the personal representative to start paying allowed claims once the earlier of the 72-3-803 time limits expires. Before paying, the personal representative sets aside enough for the homestead, family and support allowances, for claims presented but not yet allowed or under appeal, and for unbarred claims that may still arrive, including administration costs.

When the estate cannot pay everyone, MCA 72-3-807(1) sets the order:

1. costs and expenses of administration,
2. reasonable funeral expenses and reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last illness, including pay for the people who cared for the decedent,
3. federal estate and Montana state estate taxes,
4. current support and past-due support owed for the decedent's children under a support order as defined in 40-5-201,
5. debts with preference under federal and Montana law,
6. other federal and Montana state taxes, and
7. all other claims.

The child support class is Montana's own. The model Uniform Probate Code has no such row. Under 72-3-807(2), no claim gets a preference over another in the same class, and a claim already due does not jump ahead of one not yet due. The full order, and where the family allowances sit against it, is on the Montana debt payment priority page.

Now the trap. Under 72-3-808(3), the personal representative can pay any just claim that is not barred at any time, with or without formal presentation. But the personal representative becomes personally liable to any other claimant whose claim is allowed and who is hurt by the payment if:

• the payment went out before the claim period ended and the personal representative did not require the payee to give adequate security to refund what other claimants might need, or
• negligence or willful fault in the payment cost the injured claimant its priority.

A claimant whose allowed claim sits unpaid can ask the court for an order directing payment, to the extent the estate has funds (72-3-808(2)). And no creditor can levy on estate property under a judgment against the decedent or the personal representative, under MCA 72-3-813, though mortgages, pledges and liens stay enforceable.

Medicaid Estate Recovery

If the decedent received Montana Medicaid, expect a claim from the Department of Public Health and Human Services. MCA 53-6-167(1) has the department present a claim against the estate, within the time in the published notice to creditors, for the recoverable medical assistance it paid. The department does not have to open probate itself to present one.

Four limits and reaches to know:

• Family deferral. Under 53-6-167(9)(b), the department may not recover while a surviving spouse is alive, or while a surviving child is under 21, blind, or permanently and totally disabled. It can recover after that spouse or child dies.
• Beyond the probate estate. Under 53-6-167(2) and (5)(a), the department can also claim against a person who received the recipient's property by distribution or survival, including joint tenancy, a life estate conveyance and a living trust, up to the lesser of the assistance paid or the value received. That action must start within 3 years of the later of the death or the closing of the estate (53-6-167(4)(b)).
• Undue hardship. The claim has to include notice of the right to seek an undue hardship exception (53-6-167(3)), and the personal representative or another affected person can apply under 53-6-167(8).
• Cost-effectiveness waiver. The department may waive recovery when it would not be cost-effective (53-6-167(7)).

The department's Third Party Liability page lists the Estate Recovery Program at (406) 444-9440, option 1, and [email protected].

Transfer on Death Deeds, Trusts and Other Nonprobate Property

Property that skips probate does not always skip creditors. MCA 72-6-112 makes a transferee of a nonprobate transfer liable for allowed claims against the probate estate and statutory allowances to the spouse and children, to the extent the probate estate is too small to cover them. The transferee never owes more than the value received or controlled.

What counts, under 72-6-112(1): a transfer effective at death that the decedent, acting alone, could have revoked or withdrawn to use the property or pay claims. A revocable living trust is the usual example, and 72-6-112(3)(b) names the trustee of such a trust. A survivorship interest in a joint tenancy of real estate is excluded by name. For a transfer on death deed, MCA 72-6-414 points the beneficiary straight back to 72-6-112, so a house passed by a recorded Montana transfer on death deed can still answer for estate debts if nothing else can.

The process has three steps and one deadline:

1. A creditor, or a spouse or child whose allowances are affected, sends the personal representative a written demand (72-6-112(7)).
2. The personal representative may bring the proceeding. If the personal representative declines or does nothing, the person who made the demand can bring it in the estate's name, at that person's own expense.
3. Liability falls first on a transferee the will or instrument names, then on the trustee of the trust at the center of the estate plan, then on other transferees in proportion to what they received (72-6-112(3)).

The deadline: the proceeding must start within 1 year after the death, except that a creditor whose claim was allowed only after a fight over its disallowance gets 60 days after final allowance (72-6-112(8)).

Closing, and What Survives Closing

The claim period feeds straight into closing. Under MCA 72-3-1004(1), a personal representative in an unsupervised estate may close by a verified statement filed no earlier than 6 months after the original appointment. The statement has to say the time limit for presenting creditors' claims has expired, that claims were paid, settled or otherwise handled, and that a copy went to every distributee and to every creditor the personal representative knows of whose claim is neither paid nor barred. If a claim is still open, the statement has to say how the estate provided for it. The dated steps from appointment to closing are on the Montana probate timeline.

After distribution, an unbarred claim can still be pursued against the distributees, under MCA 72-3-1012. No distributee owes more than the value of what that distributee received, and nobody owes anything for amounts received as exempt property or homestead or family allowances. MCA 72-3-1013(1) repeats the outer limit in plain terms: "all claims of creditors of the decedent are barred 1 year after the decedent's death." Fraud is the exception under 72-3-1013(2).

When to Call a Montana Attorney

The statute handles the ordinary estate on its own. A few situations are worth a lawyer's hour:

• the estate cannot pay every claim and the 72-3-807 classes decide who goes unpaid,
• a creditor disputes a disallowance and petitions the court,
• a Medicaid claim arrives and the family wants to argue undue hardship,
• a creditor sends a 72-6-112 demand aimed at a trust or a transfer on death deed, or
• the decedent lived in another state and that state's nonclaim period may already have run.

The clerk of district court in the county handling the estate can confirm filing requirements, and the clerk's office for each county is listed on the Montana probate courts page.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do creditors have to file a claim against a Montana estate?

Four months after the first publication of the notice to creditors, under MCA 72-3-801(1). A creditor the personal representative also mails or delivers notice to gets the later of that 4 months or 30 days from the mailing, under 72-3-801(2). Behind both sits the outer bar in 72-3-803(1)(a): a claim that arose before the death is barred 1 year after the death. The statute applies whichever of those dates comes first.

Does a Montana personal representative have to publish notice to creditors?

Yes. MCA 72-3-801(1) says a personal representative upon appointment shall publish a notice once a week for 3 successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, unless notice has already been given under that section. The notice announces the appointment and the personal representative's address and tells creditors to present claims within 4 months after the first publication or be forever barred.

Is the personal representative liable for missing a creditor?

Not for the notice itself. MCA 72-3-801(3) says the personal representative is not liable to any creditor or to any successor of the decedent for giving or failing to give notice under that section. Payment is a different matter: 72-3-808(3) makes the personal representative personally liable to an injured claimant for paying a claim before the claim period ends without taking adequate security for a refund, or for paying out of priority through negligence or willful fault.

What happens if the personal representative ignores a claim?

Silence allows it. Under MCA 72-3-805(1), if the personal representative does not mail the claimant notice of action on the claim for 60 days after the time for original presentation has expired, the failure has the effect of a notice of allowance. A disallowance bars the claim only if the notice warns the claimant of the coming bar, and the claimant then has 60 days from the mailing to petition the court or sue the personal representative.

Which debts does a Montana estate pay first when money is short?

MCA 72-3-807(1) sets seven classes: costs and expenses of administration; reasonable funeral expenses together with reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last illness; federal and Montana estate taxes; current and past-due child support owed under a support order as defined in 40-5-201; debts with preference under federal and Montana law; other federal and Montana taxes; and all other claims. The child support class is a Montana addition. No claim outranks another in the same class.

Can Montana Medicaid recover from an estate?

Yes, with limits. MCA 53-6-167(1) has the Department of Public Health and Human Services present a claim within the time in the published notice to creditors for the recoverable medical assistance it paid. Under 53-6-167(9)(b) the department may not recover while the recipient's spouse survives, or while a child who is under 21, blind, or permanently and totally disabled survives, though it can recover after that spouse or child dies.

Can a creditor reach a transfer on death deed or a living trust?

Yes, if the probate estate cannot pay. MCA 72-6-112(2) makes a nonprobate transferee liable for allowed claims and statutory allowances to the extent the probate estate is short, capped at the value the transferee received. A creditor starts with a written demand to the personal representative under 72-6-112(7), and the proceeding has to begin within 1 year after the death under 72-6-112(8). Joint tenancy real estate is outside this section.

Related Guides

• Montana Probate Guide
• Montana Executor Duties
• Montana Debt Payment Priority
• Montana Probate Timeline
• Montana Transfer on Death Deed
• Montana Probate Courts by County

Sources:

• Title: MCA 72-3-801, Notice to creditors. Publisher: Montana State Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: Accessed 2026-09-27. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0030/part_0080/section_0010/0720-0030-0080-0010.html
• Title: MCA 72-3-802, Statutes of limitations -- waiver -- suspension. Publisher: Montana State Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: Accessed 2026-09-27. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0030/part_0080/section_0020/0720-0030-0080-0020.html
• Title: MCA 72-3-803, Nonclaim -- limitations on presentation of claims -- exceptions. Publisher: Montana State Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: Accessed 2026-09-27. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0030/part_0080/section_0030/0720-0030-0080-0030.html
• Title: MCA 72-3-804, Manner of presentation of claims. Publisher: Montana State Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: Accessed 2026-09-27. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0030/part_0080/section_0040/0720-0030-0080-0040.html
• Title: MCA 72-3-805, Allowance and disallowance of claims -- interest on allowed claims. Publisher: Montana State Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: Accessed 2026-09-27. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0030/part_0080/section_0050/0720-0030-0080-0050.html
• Title: MCA 72-3-806, Counterclaims -- deduction. Publisher: Montana State Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: Accessed 2026-09-27. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0030/part_0080/section_0060/0720-0030-0080-0060.html
• Title: MCA 72-3-807, Classification of claims as to priority of payment. Publisher: Montana State Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: Accessed 2026-09-27. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0030/part_0080/section_0070/0720-0030-0080-0070.html
• Title: MCA 72-3-808, Payment of claims. Publisher: Montana State Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: Accessed 2026-09-27. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0030/part_0080/section_0080/0720-0030-0080-0080.html
• Title: MCA 72-3-813, Execution and levies prohibited. Publisher: Montana State Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: Accessed 2026-09-27. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0030/part_0080/section_0130/0720-0030-0080-0130.html
• Title: MCA 72-3-104, Claims against decedent -- necessity of administration. Publisher: Montana State Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: Accessed 2026-09-27. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0030/part_0010/section_0040/0720-0030-0010-0040.html
• Title: MCA 72-3-502, Priorities for appointment. Publisher: Montana State Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: Accessed 2026-09-27. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0030/part_0050/section_0020/0720-0030-0050-0020.html
• Title: MCA 72-3-1004, Closing estate by sworn statement of personal representative. Publisher: Montana State Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: Accessed 2026-09-27. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0030/part_0100/section_0040/0720-0030-0100-0040.html
• Title: MCA 72-3-1012, Liability of distributees to claimants. Publisher: Montana State Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: Accessed 2026-09-27. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0030/part_0100/section_0120/0720-0030-0100-0120.html
• Title: MCA 72-3-1013, Limitation on actions against distributees. Publisher: Montana State Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: Accessed 2026-09-27. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0030/part_0100/section_0130/0720-0030-0100-0130.html
• Title: MCA 72-6-112, Liability of nonprobate transferees for creditor claims and statutory allowances. Publisher: Montana State Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: Accessed 2026-09-27. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0060/part_0010/section_0120/0720-0060-0010-0120.html
• Title: MCA 72-6-414, Liability for creditor claims and statutory allowances. Publisher: Montana State Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: Accessed 2026-09-27. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0060/part_0040/section_0140/0720-0060-0040-0140.html
• Title: MCA 53-6-167, Recovery of medicaid benefits after recipient's death. Publisher: Montana State Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: Accessed 2026-09-27. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0530/chapter_0060/part_0010/section_0670/0530-0060-0010-0670.html
• Title: Third Party Liability (Estate Recovery Program). Publisher: Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://dphhs.mt.gov/oig/PC/PCTPL

It is not legal advice.