Montana Surviving Spouse Rights

A Montana will generally cannot leave a surviving spouse with nothing if the spouse chooses to object, unless the spouse gave up that right in a signed agreement under MCA 72-2-243. MCA 72-2-232(1) gives the spouse of a person who died domiciled in Montana the right to elect 50% of the value of the marital-property portion of the augmented estate instead of taking under the will. The marital-property portion grows with the length of the marriage, from 3% of the augmented estate in the first year to 100% after 15 years, so the share reaches half of the augmented estate only in a long marriage. The spouse files a petition within 9 months after the death or within 6 months after the will is probated, whichever is later, under 72-2-241(1).

On top of that share sit three allowances that outrank the estate's creditors: a $22,500 homestead allowance, up to $15,000 of exempt property, and a family allowance. Montana adds them to the elective share rather than subtracting them from it. Probate runs in the district court in each of Montana's 56 counties, so the petition goes to the district court holding the estate file. This page explains the law broadly from the Montana Code Annotated 2025, so confirm your own numbers and dates with that court or with a licensed Montana attorney.

Right	What the spouse gets	Statute
Elective share	50% of the marital-property portion of the augmented estate	72-2-232(1), 72-2-233(2)
Supplemental elective share	A floor that brings the spouse's credited total up to $75,000	72-2-232(2)
Homestead allowance	$22,500, ahead of all claims	72-2-412
Exempt property	Up to $15,000 in furniture, vehicles, appliances and personal effects, net of liens	72-2-413
Family allowance	A reasonable amount for maintenance during administration	72-2-414, 72-2-415
Intestate share with no will	The whole estate, or $300,000, $225,000 or $150,000 plus a fraction of the balance	72-2-112
Omitted spouse	At least the intestate share when the will predates the marriage	72-2-331

MCA 72-2-232(1) states the rule in one sentence. The surviving spouse of a decedent who dies domiciled in Montana has a right of election to take an elective-share amount equal to 50% of the value of the marital-property portion of the augmented estate.

Two measurements sit inside that sentence. The augmented estate is the pool, built from four components in 72-2-233(1). The marital-property portion is that pool multiplied by a percentage keyed to how long the couple were married, set out in 72-2-233(2). The elective share is half of the result. A worked example and the order in which the share is paid are in the Montana elective share guide.

Montana wrote this version of the elective share in 2019. Chapter 313 of the 2019 Laws of Montana enacted 72-2-231 through 72-2-239 and 72-2-243 and moved the older sections to new numbers, which is why a source written before 2019 will cite 72-2-225 for the filing deadline. That deadline now sits at 72-2-241.

The election is a right, not something that happens on its own. A spouse who files nothing takes what the will leaves. Under 72-2-241(3) the spouse may withdraw a demand for an elective share at any time before the court enters a final determination, so filing keeps the option open rather than locking it in.

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The Length of the Marriage Sets the Percentage

MCA 72-2-233(2) multiplies the sum of the four components of the augmented estate by the percentage in this schedule. The table below copies the statute's steps. Do not interpolate between them: the jump from 10 to 11 years is 60% to 68%, and every later year adds 8 points, not 6.

Married to each other	Marital-property percentage
Less than 1 year	3%
1 year but less than 2 years	6%
2 years but less than 3 years	12%
3 years but less than 4 years	18%
4 years but less than 5 years	24%
5 years but less than 6 years	30%
6 years but less than 7 years	36%
7 years but less than 8 years	42%
8 years but less than 9 years	48%
9 years but less than 10 years	54%
10 years but less than 11 years	60%
11 years but less than 12 years	68%
12 years but less than 13 years	76%
13 years but less than 14 years	84%
14 years but less than 15 years	92%
15 years or more	100%

Take an augmented estate worth $600,000 and a couple married for seven and a half years. The percentage is 42%, so the marital-property portion is $252,000, and the elective-share amount is half of that, $126,000. The same estate after a 20-year marriage produces a marital-property portion of $600,000 and an elective-share amount of $300,000.

That $126,000 is the target, not a check the estate writes. MCA 72-2-239 first credits what the spouse already receives, then collects any shortfall from the other recipients.

What the Augmented Estate Counts

The augmented estate is much wider than the probate estate. MCA 72-2-233(1) builds it from four components, and 72-2-238 then takes certain property back out.

The decedent's net probate estate (72-2-234). The probate estate reduced by funeral and administration expenses, the homestead allowance, family allowances, exempt property and enforceable claims.
The decedent's nonprobate transfers to others (72-2-235). Property that passed outside probate to someone other than the spouse: the decedent's fractional interest in joint tenancy property that went to another surviving joint tenant, accounts or property held in POD, TOD or co-ownership registration with survivorship, and property the decedent alone could appoint under a presently exercisable general power. It also reaches transfers made during the marriage where the decedent kept the income or the use, and transfers made during the marriage in the two years before death, counting gifts to any one donee only above the federal gift tax annual exclusion under 26 U.S.C. 2503(b).
The decedent's nonprobate transfers to the surviving spouse (72-2-236). The same kinds of property where it went to the spouse, leaving out federal Social Security benefits.
The surviving spouse's own property and nonprobate transfers to others (72-2-237). What the spouse owned at the decedent's death, including what passed to the spouse because of the death, reduced by enforceable claims against the spouse. The spouse's homestead allowance, family allowance, exempt property and Social Security payments stay out.

A house the owner deeded to a child through a transfer on death deed is a nonprobate transfer to others, so it counts. See a TOD deed and the elective share for how that deed works.

The fourth component surprises people. The spouse's own assets go into the pool, and under 72-2-239(1)(c) the marital-property portion of those assets is then applied first to satisfy the share. A spouse with large savings of their own can find that the election produces little or nothing from anyone else.

Three Exclusions That Change the Arithmetic

MCA 72-2-238(1) removes property from the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others in three cases.

Full consideration. A transfer for which the decedent received adequate and full consideration in money or money's worth drops out, to that extent.
The spouse's written consent. A transfer the surviving spouse joined in writing, or consented to in writing before or after the transfer, drops out. Signing a deed or a beneficiary change can remove that asset from the pool years later.
Life insurance to others. Life insurance or accident insurance payable to someone other than the surviving spouse or the decedent's estate is excluded.

The third exclusion is a Montana choice worth knowing. A life insurance policy naming the decedent's children from an earlier marriage does not enter the pool the spouse's share is measured against.

Where two sections reach the same property, 72-2-238(3) counts it once, under whichever one yields the greatest value.

The $75,000 Supplemental Amount

MCA 72-2-232(2) sets a floor. Add up what the spouse's own property contributes under 72-2-237, what already passes to the spouse under 72-2-239(1)(a), and the part of the elective share payable from the probate estate and the nonprobate transfers under 72-2-239(3) and (4). If that sum is less than $75,000, the spouse receives a supplemental elective-share amount equal to $75,000 minus the sum.

The supplemental amount is paid from the decedent's net probate estate and from recipients of nonprobate transfers to others, in the order set out in 72-2-239(3) and (4). The section prints a flat $75,000, and Title 72 contains no cost-of-living schedule that raises it by year of death.

This is the largest difference between Montana and several nearby states. MCA 72-2-232(3) says that when the right of election is exercised, the surviving spouse's homestead allowance, exempt property and family allowance are not charged against but are in addition to the elective-share and supplemental amounts.

Homestead allowance. $22,500 under 72-2-412, exempt from and ahead of all claims against the estate.
Exempt property. A value of up to $15,000 above any security interests in household furniture, automobiles, furnishings, appliances and personal effects under 72-2-413. If the estate holds less than that, the spouse may take other assets to make up the difference.
Family allowance. A reasonable allowance in money for the spouse and dependent children during administration under 72-2-414, limited to one year if the estate cannot pay its allowed claims.

Each of the three also comes on top of a gift under the will or an intestate share, unless the will says otherwise. Under 72-2-415(1) the personal representative may set the family allowance at up to $27,000 as a lump sum, or up to $2,250 a month for one year, without a court order. Any interested person who disagrees can petition the court, which may set a different amount.

The dollar detail belongs to the pages that own it. See the $22,500 homestead allowance and $15,000 exempt property for how the spouse selects property, and the family allowance during administration for the ceilings and the one-year limit.

The Deadline Has Two Limbs, and Waiting Costs the Nonprobate Assets

MCA 72-2-241(1) sets the clock. The spouse elects by filing a petition for the elective share in the court and mailing or delivering it to the personal representative, if there is one, within 9 months after the date of death or within 6 months after the probate of the will, whichever limit later expires. The spouse then gives notice of the hearing to persons interested in the estate and to the people whose shares the election will reduce.

The later of two dates sounds generous until you reach the last sentence of the same subsection. The decedent's nonprobate transfers to others are not included in the augmented estate for computing the elective share if the petition is filed more than 9 months after the death.

So a spouse who waits past 9 months, while the 6-month limb is still open, keeps the right to elect but loses the joint tenancy interests, the TOD and POD assets and the two-year transfers from the pool. Where the decedent moved most of the wealth outside probate, that can erase most of the election.

MCA 72-2-241(2) is the remedy, and it has to be used inside the same 9 months. The spouse petitions for an extension of time and gives notice of that petition to everyone interested in the nonprobate transfers. If the court grants the extension for cause shown, those transfers stay in the pool for a petition filed within the extended time.

Five points shape how the question gets analyzed:

The clock runs from the death, or from the probate of the will, not from the funeral or the personal representative's appointment.
The nonprobate side has to be identified before the pool can be measured. Joint accounts, TOD and POD registrations, TOD deeds and transfers made in the two years before death all sit in 72-2-235.
The extension in 72-2-241(2) must be sought inside the first 9 months. The 6-month limb does not protect the nonprobate assets on its own.
The two outcomes are different numbers. The will plus the three allowances on one side, the elective share plus the three allowances on the other.
The election is made by petition and by service, filed with the court and mailed or delivered to the personal representative, with notice to the people whose shares it reaches.

The Montana probate timeline places the election beside the creditor window and the other dates in an estate.

Who May Elect, and Where the Money Comes From

MCA 72-2-242(1) keeps the right personal. Only a surviving spouse who is living when the petition is filed can elect. A conservator, guardian or agent under a power of attorney may act for the spouse.

An election made for an incapacitated spouse comes with a condition. Under 72-2-242(2) the court sets aside the part of the share due from the probate estate and the nonprobate recipients and appoints a trustee to hold it for the spouse's support. An election by an agent under a durable power of attorney is presumed to be for an incapacitated spouse. Whatever remains when the spouse dies passes under the residuary clause of the first spouse's will, or to that spouse's heirs under 72-2-721.

MCA 72-2-239 sets the order of payment. Amounts already passing to the spouse, amounts the spouse disclaimed, and the marital-property portion of the spouse's own property are applied first. Any shortfall comes next from the probate estate and from the nonprobate transfers under 72-2-235(1) and (2), shared among the recipients in proportion to their interests, then from the remaining nonprobate transfers. Under 72-2-240 only the original recipients of nonprobate transfers, and their donees who still hold the property, have to contribute, and each may hand back the property instead of paying its value.

A Marital Agreement Can Waive All of It, With Conditions

MCA 72-2-243(2) allows the right of election and the rights to the homestead allowance, exempt property and family allowance to be affirmed, modified or waived, wholly or in part, only by a written agreement the surviving spouse signed, before or after the marriage. No consideration is needed.

Montana's test for setting an agreement aside asks more than whether the spouse signed it voluntarily. Under 72-2-243(3) the agreement is not enforceable if the surviving spouse proves any one of these:

the agreement was involuntary or the result of duress;
the spouse did not have access to independent legal representation, meaning a reasonable time to find and consult a lawyer, and the means to pay one or a promise from the other spouse to pay;
the spouse had no lawyer and the agreement did not explain, in plain language, the rights being given up; or
the spouse did not receive adequate financial disclosure before signing, unless the spouse waived it in a separate signed record or already had adequate knowledge.

Watch the catch-all language in 72-2-243(6). Unless the agreement says otherwise, a waiver of "all rights" in the property or estate of a present or prospective spouse, or a complete property settlement made after or in anticipation of separation or divorce, waives the elective share and all three allowances. It also renounces anything that would have passed to that spouse by intestate succession or under a will signed before the waiver.

What a Spouse Takes With No Will

The elective share answers a will. When there is no will, MCA 72-2-112 decides the spouse's share, and the two rights are separate. The spouse takes:

the entire intestate estate if no descendant or parent of the decedent survives, or if every surviving descendant of the decedent is also the spouse's and the spouse has no other surviving descendant;
the first $300,000 plus three-fourths of the balance if no descendant survives but a parent does;
the first $225,000 plus half of the balance if all the decedent's descendants are also the spouse's but the spouse has a descendant who is not the decedent's; or
the first $150,000 plus half of the balance if one or more of the decedent's descendants are not the spouse's.

For the rest of the order of heirs, see the spouse's intestate share.

Married After the Will Was Signed

MCA 72-2-331, titled "Entitlement of spouse -- premarital will," protects the spouse a will never mentioned because the will came first. A spouse who married the testator after the will was signed receives no less than the intestate share they would have taken, figured on the part of the estate not left to the testator's children born before the marriage who are not the spouse's children, or to those children's descendants.

Three things defeat the claim under 72-2-331(1). The will or other evidence shows it was made in contemplation of the marriage. The will says it stays effective despite a later marriage. Or the testator provided for the spouse outside the will and meant that transfer to replace a gift in the will, shown by the testator's statements, the amount of the transfer or other evidence. Where the share is paid, 72-2-331(2) applies the spouse's own devises first and abates the other devises under 72-3-901, with the earlier children's gifts protected.

Who Counts as a Surviving Spouse

Common-law marriage. MCA 40-1-403 provides that common-law marriages are not invalidated by the marriage chapter of Title 40. A person in a valid Montana common-law marriage is a spouse for every right on this page. Without a marriage certificate, the surviving partner may have to prove to the district court that the marriage existed.

Divorce and annulment. Under 72-2-812(1) a person divorced from the decedent, or whose marriage was annulled, is not a surviving spouse unless they remarried each other. A decree of separation that leaves the marriage in place is not a divorce. Subsection (2) also excludes, for the elective share and the allowances, a person who was party to a valid proceeding ending in an order purporting to end all marital property rights.

Surviving by less than 120 hours. MCA 72-2-712(1) treats a person who is not shown by clear and convincing evidence to have survived the decedent by 120 hours as having died first. Five days can decide whether an estate passes through one family or two.

Homicide and financial exploitation. MCA 72-2-813(2) reaches past homicide. A person who feloniously and intentionally kills the decedent, or who financially exploits the decedent, forfeits every benefit under chapter 2, including the intestate share, the elective share, an omitted spouse's share, the homestead allowance, exempt property and the family allowance. Financial exploitation under 72-2-813(1) means purposely or knowingly using a position of trust with a vulnerable adult, including anyone 60 or older, to take at least $1,000 of that person's money or property.

Serving as Personal Representative

A surviving spouse often administers the estate as well. MCA 72-3-502 ranks the people entitled to appointment. First comes the person the probated will names. Second comes the surviving spouse who is a devisee under the will. A spouse who takes nothing under the will ranks fifth, after the custodial parent of a minor decedent and the other devisees.

The Montana executor duties guide covers what the personal representative must do, including paying the allowances ahead of creditors.

Medicaid Recovery Waits for the Spouse

MCA 53-6-167(9)(b) bars the Department of Public Health and Human Services from recovering Medicaid benefits under that section while there is a surviving spouse of the recipient, or a surviving child under 21, blind or permanently and totally disabled. The same subsection lets the department recover from the recipient's estate after the surviving spouse dies. The department's Estate Recovery Program is reached at (406) 444-9440, option 1.

Taxes

Montana collects no estate tax and no inheritance tax. The Montana Department of Revenue states that the inheritance tax does not apply to any death after January 1, 2001, and that Montana has no estate tax for deaths after 2004. Federal law, not Montana law, sets the income tax basis of what a spouse inherits.

When the Deadline Has Passed

MCA 72-3-122(1) bars opening an informal or formal probate more than 3 years after the death, with narrow exceptions. A late appointment under 72-3-122(1)(d) can confirm title but cannot be used to present claims other than administration expenses. These outer limits do not extend the elective-share deadline; the 9-month mark in 72-2-241 is the one that controls the nonprobate assets.

When to Bring in a Montana Attorney

Most surviving spouses never elect, because the will already leaves them the estate. Bring in a licensed Montana attorney when the will leaves the spouse little, when much of the decedent's wealth passed by beneficiary designation, joint title or a TOD deed, when the marriage was short and the percentage is low, when a premarital or marital agreement exists, when the marriage was common-law and undocumented, or when the 9-month mark is close. Those are the cases where filing or not filing decides who receives what.

The Montana probate guide explains how an estate is opened in the district court, and the Montana will requirements page covers what makes a will valid in the first place.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a Montana will disinherit a surviving spouse?

Not completely. MCA 72-2-232(1) gives the surviving spouse of a person who died domiciled in Montana the right to elect an elective-share amount equal to 50% of the value of the marital-property portion of the augmented estate, instead of taking what the will leaves. The spouse also keeps a $22,500 homestead allowance, up to $15,000 of exempt property and a reasonable family allowance, and 72-2-232(3) says those come on top of the elective share. The election has to be claimed by petition, and 72-2-243 lets a spouse waive it in a signed written agreement.

How much is the Montana elective share?

Half of the marital-property portion of the augmented estate, under MCA 72-2-232(1). The marital-property portion is the whole augmented estate multiplied by a percentage from the schedule in 72-2-233(2), which runs from 3% for a marriage of less than one year to 100% for a marriage of 15 years or more. So the share tops out at half of the augmented estate after 15 years. If the spouse's credited amounts come to less than $75,000, 72-2-232(2) adds a supplemental amount that brings the total up to $75,000.

What is the deadline to file for a Montana elective share?

MCA 72-2-241(1) requires a petition filed in the court, and mailed or delivered to the personal representative if there is one, within 9 months after the date of death or within 6 months after the will is probated, whichever limit expires later. A petition filed more than 9 months after the death loses the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others from the calculation, unless the spouse asked the court for an extension inside those 9 months under 72-2-241(2).

Do the allowances come on top of the Montana elective share?

Yes. MCA 72-2-232(3) says that when the right of election is exercised, the surviving spouse's homestead allowance, exempt property and family allowance are not charged against the elective-share and supplemental amounts but are in addition to them. The homestead allowance is $22,500 under 72-2-412, exempt property is up to $15,000 under 72-2-413, and the family allowance under 72-2-414 is a reasonable amount for maintenance during administration.

Does a Montana common-law spouse have these rights?

A common-law spouse is a spouse. MCA 40-1-403 provides that common-law marriages are not invalidated by the marriage chapter of Title 40, so a person in a valid Montana common-law marriage stands in the same position as a spouse who married with a license. The practical difficulty is proof: with no certificate on file, the surviving partner may have to show the court that the marriage existed.

Can Montana Medicaid recover from the estate while the spouse is alive?

No. MCA 53-6-167(9)(b) bars the Department of Public Health and Human Services from recovering Medicaid benefits under that section while there is a surviving spouse of the recipient. The same subsection says the department can still recover from the recipient's estate after the surviving spouse dies.

Montana Exempt Property - the $22,500 homestead allowance and the $15,000 exempt property allowance
Montana Family Allowance - maintenance during administration and the $27,000 and $2,250 ceilings
Montana Intestate Succession - who inherits when there is no will
Montana Transfer on Death Deed - a nonprobate transfer that enters the augmented estate
Montana Executor Duties - the personal representative's side of the election
Montana Probate Timeline - where the 9-month election window falls
Montana Probate Guide - how a Montana estate opens in the district court

Sources:

Title: MCA 72-2-232, Elective share. Publisher: Montana Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: En. Sec. 14, Ch. 313, L. 2019. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0020/part_0020/section_0320/0720-0020-0020-0320.html
Title: MCA 72-2-233, Composition of the augmented estate. Publisher: Montana Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: En. Sec. 15, Ch. 313, L. 2019. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0020/part_0020/section_0330/0720-0020-0020-0330.html
Title: MCA 72-2-234, Decedent's net probate estate. Publisher: Montana Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: En. Sec. 16, Ch. 313, L. 2019. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0020/part_0020/section_0340/0720-0020-0020-0340.html
Title: MCA 72-2-235, Decedent's nonprobate transfers to others. Publisher: Montana Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: En. Sec. 17, Ch. 313, L. 2019. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0020/part_0020/section_0350/0720-0020-0020-0350.html
Title: MCA 72-2-236, Decedent's nonprobate transfers to surviving spouse. Publisher: Montana Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: En. Sec. 18, Ch. 313, L. 2019. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0020/part_0020/section_0360/0720-0020-0020-0360.html
Title: MCA 72-2-237, Surviving spouse's property and nonprobate transfers to others. Publisher: Montana Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: En. Sec. 19, Ch. 313, L. 2019. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0020/part_0020/section_0370/0720-0020-0020-0370.html
Title: MCA 72-2-238, Exclusions, valuation, and overlapping application. Publisher: Montana Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: En. Sec. 20, Ch. 313, L. 2019. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0020/part_0020/section_0380/0720-0020-0020-0380.html
Title: MCA 72-2-239, Sources from which elective share payable. Publisher: Montana Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: En. Sec. 21, Ch. 313, L. 2019. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0020/part_0020/section_0390/0720-0020-0020-0390.html
Title: MCA 72-2-240, Personal liability of recipients. Publisher: Montana Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: redes. 72-2-240 by Sec. 103, Ch. 313, L. 2019. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0020/part_0020/section_0400/0720-0020-0020-0400.html
Title: MCA 72-2-241, Proceeding for elective share -- time limit. Publisher: Montana Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: redes. 72-2-241 by Sec. 103, Ch. 313, L. 2019. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0020/part_0020/section_0410/0720-0020-0020-0410.html
Title: MCA 72-2-242, Right of election personal to surviving spouse -- incapacitated surviving spouse. Publisher: Montana Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: redes. 72-2-242 by Sec. 103, Ch. 313, L. 2019. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0020/part_0020/section_0420/0720-0020-0020-0420.html
Title: MCA 72-2-243, Effect of premarital or marital agreement right to elect and of other rights. Publisher: Montana Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: En. Sec. 22, Ch. 313, L. 2019. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0020/part_0020/section_0430/0720-0020-0020-0430.html
Title: MCA 72-2-112, Share of spouse. Publisher: Montana Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: amd. Sec. 8, Ch. 313, L. 2019. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0020/part_0010/section_0120/0720-0020-0010-0120.html
Title: MCA 72-2-331, Entitlement of spouse -- premarital will. Publisher: Montana Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: amd. Sec. 12, Ch. 592, L. 1995. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0020/part_0030/section_0310/0720-0020-0030-0310.html
Title: MCA 72-2-412, Homestead allowance. Publisher: Montana Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: amd. Sec. 27, Ch. 313, L. 2019. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0020/part_0040/section_0120/0720-0020-0040-0120.html
Title: MCA 72-2-413, Exempt property. Publisher: Montana Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: amd. Sec. 28, Ch. 313, L. 2019. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0020/part_0040/section_0130/0720-0020-0040-0130.html
Title: MCA 72-2-414, Family allowance. Publisher: Montana Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: amd. Sec. 59, Ch. 494, L. 1993. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0020/part_0040/section_0140/0720-0020-0040-0140.html
Title: MCA 72-2-415, Source, determination, and documentation. Publisher: Montana Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: amd. Sec. 29, Ch. 313, L. 2019. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0020/part_0040/section_0150/0720-0020-0040-0150.html
Title: MCA 72-2-712, Requirement of survival by 120 hours. Publisher: Montana Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: amd. Sec. 32, Ch. 313, L. 2019. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0020/part_0070/section_0120/0720-0020-0070-0120.html
Title: MCA 72-2-812, Effect of divorce, annulment, or decree of separation. Publisher: Montana Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: amd. Sec. 7, Ch. 494, L. 1993. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0020/part_0080/section_0120/0720-0020-0080-0120.html
Title: MCA 72-2-813, Effect of financial exploitation or homicide on intestate succession, wills, trusts, joint assets, life insurance, and beneficiary designations. Publisher: Montana Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: amd. Sec. 35, Ch. 313, L. 2019. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0020/part_0080/section_0130/0720-0020-0080-0130.html
Title: MCA 72-3-122, Time limit on probate, testacy, and appointment proceedings -- exceptions. Publisher: Montana Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: amd. Sec. 58, Ch. 313, L. 2019. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0030/part_0010/section_0220/0720-0030-0010-0220.html
Title: MCA 72-3-502, Priorities for appointment. Publisher: Montana Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: amd. Sec. 66, Ch. 313, L. 2019. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0030/part_0050/section_0020/0720-0030-0050-0020.html
Title: MCA 40-1-403, Validity of common-law marriage. Publisher: Montana Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: En. 48-314 by Sec. 14, Ch. 536, L. 1975. URL: https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0400/chapter_0010/part_0040/section_0030/0400-0010-0040-0030.html
Title: MCA 53-6-167, Recovery of medicaid benefits after recipient's death. Publisher: Montana Legislature, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Publication Date: amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 153, L. 2009. 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, accessed 2026-09-27. URL: https://dphhs.mt.gov/oig/PC/PCTPL
Title: Montana Estate and Inheritance Tax. Publisher: Montana Department of Revenue. Publication Date: Not listed, accessed 2026-09-27. URL: https://revenue.mt.gov/taxes/fiduciaries/estate-and-inheritance-tax

This guide explains Montana surviving spouse rights broadly from the Montana Code Annotated 2025. The marital-property percentage turns on the length of the marriage, the deadline turns on two dates that run together, and whether electing beats taking under the will depends on the assets in one estate, so confirm your own numbers and dates with the district court handling the estate or with a licensed Montana attorney. It is not legal advice.