Montana Probate Cost: One Flat $100 Court Fee in All 56 Counties
Settled Estate lists court filing fees and timelines for 7 Montana probate procedures. The cheapest published route starts at $100 for open informal, formal or supervised probate. Last verified September 2026.
Montana prices probate with a single statewide court fee that does not move with the size of the estate. The trap is the statute: it prints $70, and the clerk collects $100.
Opening an informal, formal, supervised or ancillary Montana probate costs $100. That is the total on the Montana Clerks of District Courts civil fee schedule (updated May 2024), and it is built from three statutes: $70 under Mont. Code Ann. § 25-1-201(1)(m), which includes filing the will, $20 under § 25-1-202(1)(a), and the $10 court information technology surcharge that § 3-1-317(1)(b) applies to probate cases by name. Quoting $70 as the Montana probate filing fee understates the bill.
The fee is the same whatever the estate is worth. Montana has no probate tax, no value-based fee, no estate tax for deaths after 2004 and no inheritance tax, so an $80,000 estate and a $3,000,000 estate pay the same $100 to open. The small estate affidavit under § 72-3-1101 costs nothing in court fees because it is never filed. One cost Montana does not let an estate skip is the newspaper: publishing the notice to creditors is mandatory under § 72-3-801(1).
Montana sets no percentage for the personal representative or the estate attorney. Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-631 entitles the personal representative to reasonable compensation, and § 72-3-634 lets the court review the reasonableness of that compensation and of anyone the estate employs, including an attorney, and order a refund of anything excessive. No dollar figure is estimated here for either role.
Quick Summary
- Open informal, formal or supervised probate
- $100Flat in all 56 counties (Montana Clerks of District Courts fee schedule)
- Small estate affidavit
- $0Never filed. Probate estate of $100,000 or less, net of liens (Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-1101)
- Newspaper notice to creditors
- RequiredOnce a week for 3 weeks; the newspaper sets the price (§ 72-3-801(1))
- Executor and attorney fees
- No scheduleReasonable compensation, reviewable by the court (Mont. Code Ann. §§ 72-3-631 and 72-3-634)
There is no cheaper Montana county. The court fee schedule is statewide, every county hears probate in the district court, and Montana counties impose no local probate tax or local probate filing fee. Recording fees at the county clerk and recorder are also set statewide by Mont. Code Ann. § 7-4-2637. The one genuinely local cost is the county newspaper that prints the required notice to creditors.
Typical Total Cost Ranges
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| Procedure | Estate Size | Court Fee | Timeline | Attorney? | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Informal Probate and Appointment | Any estate. The fee does not depend on value | $100 ($70 under Mont. Code Ann. § 25-1-201(1)(m), $20 under § 25-1-202(1)(a), $10 surcharge under § 3-1-317(1)(b)) | Commonly 7 to 12 months; closing no earlier than 6 months after appointment | No statutory requirement | An uncontested estate that needs letters, or one with real estate to pass |
| Formal Testacy and Appointment | Any estate | $100, the same as informal probate | Commonly 9 to 18 months for a contested matter | No statutory requirement, and rare without one | A disputed will, uncertain heirs, or a family that wants a court order |
| Supervised Administration | Any estate | $100 to open | Longer than informal administration; closes only by court order | No statutory requirement | Beneficiaries who want the court overseeing each step until discharge |
| Summary Administration of Small Estates | No dollar figure. The estate, less liens, must not exceed the $22,500 homestead allowance, up to $15,000 of exempt property, the family allowance, administration costs, funeral expenses and last-illness medical bills (Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-1103) | $100 to open the estate; the procedure adds no separate court fee | Commonly 2 to 6 months; still needs an appointment and an inventory | No statutory requirement | An estate the allowances, funeral and last-illness bills would use up |
| Small Estate Affidavit | Probate estate, wherever located, net of liens and encumbrances, of $100,000 or less for deaths on or after October 1, 2023 (Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-1101) | $0. It is presented to the holder of the property and never filed | Usable 30 days after the death | No | Accounts, wages, vehicles and belongings, with no land to pass |
| Filing by a Foreign Personal Representative | An estate already administered in another state | $85 ($55 under Mont. Code Ann. § 25-1-201(1)(n) plus the $20 and $10 add-ons) | On filing | No statutory requirement | A domiciliary personal representative filing the papers § 72-4-303 requires |
| Appearance by Someone Other Than the Petitioner | Any estate | $70 ($60 under Mont. Code Ann. § 25-1-201(1)(b) plus the $10 surcharge under § 3-1-317(1)(c)) | On filing | No statutory requirement | An objector or other respondent joining an open case |
Additional Costs to Expect
Opening a Montana Estate
The $100 is the fee schedule total for commencing a probate: "Probate Commencement of Action, For filing formal/informal or ancillary petition". It is the same in every county and combines the $70 base in Mont. Code Ann. § 25-1-201(1)(m), the $20 in § 25-1-202(1)(a) and the $10 technology surcharge in § 3-1-317(1)(b).
Executor Compensation, Which Montana Does Not Schedule
Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-631 entitles a personal representative to reasonable compensation for services. If the will provides for compensation and there is no contract with the decedent about it, the personal representative may renounce the provision before qualifying and take reasonable compensation instead, and may renounce all or part of any fee. Under § 72-3-634 the court may review the reasonableness of the compensation and order a refund of anything excessive.
Attorney Fees, Under the Same Review
Montana fixes no attorney-fee percentage for probate. On a motion by an interested person, the personal representative or the person employed, and after notice, the court may review the employment of any agent, including an attorney, and the reasonableness of the compensation, set the fee in a dispute, and order a refund of excessive compensation (Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-634). If the estate is still open 2 years after appointment without good cause, § 72-3-1015 lets the judge bar both the personal representative and the attorney from any fee. Ask for a written fee agreement.
Publishing the Notice to Creditors
Under Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-801(1) the personal representative must publish a notice to creditors once a week for 3 successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. Creditors then have 4 months from first publication to present claims. The newspaper sets the price and no statute fixes it, so no total is estimated here.
Certified Death Certificates
The Department of Public Health and Human Services Office of Vital Records charges $16 per certified copy and $16 per informational copy under its fee schedule effective September 21, 2024. Mont. Code Ann. § 50-15-111(2) sets a floor and lets the department set more by rule. Copies are also available from any county clerk and recorder.
Recording With the County Clerk and Recorder
Mont. Code Ann. § 7-4-2637 sets the fee for recording a standard document such as a deed, a transfer on death deed, or an affidavit of death ending a joint tenancy or life estate, plus $10 more for a document that does not meet the recording standards. A deed also needs a realty transfer certificate under § 15-7-305, which is a disclosure form, not a tax: the Montana Constitution bars any tax on the sale or transfer of real property. From July 1, 2027 the page fee is adjusted for inflation by rule.
Certified Court Copies
Mont. Code Ann. § 25-1-201(1)(d) and (1)(e) set the clerk's copy charge at $1 a page for the first 10 pages and 50 cents for each page after, plus $2 for each certificate with seal, so a one-page certified copy of letters is $3.
The Personal Representative's Bond
Bond is not required in informal proceedings except for a special administrator, where the will expressly requires it, or on a written demand by a person with an interest over $5,000 or a creditor with a claim over $5,000 (Mont. Code Ann. §§ 72-3-513 and 72-3-514). The premium is an estate expense only when bond is actually required.
The Small Estate Affidavit
Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-1101 works without a court, so no filing fee attaches. The successor presents the affidavit to whoever holds the property after the 30-day wait. Expect a notary fee for signing it. If the estate includes land in the probate estate, the affidavit cannot transfer it, so budget for a probate or summary administration for the land even when the total is under $100,000.
Guardianship and Conservatorship, a Separate Case
A guardianship or conservatorship is a different case from the estate, with its own filing fee under Mont. Code Ann. § 25-1-201(1)(m). The clerks' fee schedule totals each petition at $100.
Taxes
Montana has no estate tax for deaths after 2004: Mont. Code Ann. §§ 72-16-904 and 72-16-905 remain in the code but equal the federal credit for state death taxes, which no longer exists. The inheritance tax does not apply to any death after January 1, 2001, and Montana has no probate tax. The estate may still owe Montana fiduciary income tax on its own income, reported on Form FID-3.
One more cost source to check: if the person who died received Medicaid long-term care benefits, the state may file a recovery claim against the estate. The Montana Medicaid estate recovery guide explains when that applies.