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Montana is one of the most forgiving states in the country about how a will gets made — and one of the most protective of a surviving spouse. Handwritten wills are valid with no witnesses and no date. Two witnesses need not be in the same room, or even sign the same day. And if the ceremony goes wrong anyway, Montana has a harmless-error statute that lets a court admit the document on clear and convincing evidence of what you intended. Without a will, a Montana spouse keeps a preferential amount in every scenario — starting at $300,000. Online services prepare a Montana-specific will for $199–$299. Every rule below cites the Montana Code Annotated.
Most Montana adults can finish a legally valid will in under an hour.
Two witnesses, a signature, and clear wishes — that’s the whole requirement. An online service like Trust & Will prepares a Montana-specific will with the witness pages ready to sign.
Disclosure: we earn a commission if you buy through the Trust & Will links here, at no extra cost to you. Complex situations belong with an attorney and we say so below.
Montana Will Requirements (2026)
| Requirement | Montana rule | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| In writing | Required — Montana’s own e-signature law expressly excludes wills | §§ 72-2-522(1)(a), 30-18-103(2)(a) |
| Signed | By you, or in your name by another individual in your conscious presence and at your direction | § 72-2-522(1)(b) |
| Witnessed | At least two individuals, each signing within a reasonable time after witnessing your signing or your acknowledgment — they need not be together | § 72-2-522(1)(c) |
| Notarized | Not required for validity — the notary appears only in the optional self-proving affidavit | § 72-2-524 |
Montana follows the modern Uniform Probate Code. There is no publication requirement — you do not have to announce that the document is your will, unlike in Iowa or Arkansas — and no requirement that the witnesses sign in each other’s presence, unlike in West Virginia or New Mexico.
Who can make a will: 18 or older and of sound mind (§ 72-2-521).
Handwritten Wills Are Valid in Montana
Section 72-2-522(2): a will that does not comply with the witnessed-will requirements is valid as a holographic will, whether or not witnessed, if the signature and material portions of the document are in the testator’s handwriting.
No date required — unlike Nevada and Oklahoma, where an undated handwritten will fails outright, and unlike Nebraska, which asks for a date but supplies three ways to survive without one.
Under § 72-2-522(3), intent that the document constitute your will may be established by extrinsic evidence, including, for holographic wills, portions of the document not in your handwriting. A preprinted form with the operative terms written in by hand can therefore qualify.
Montana’s Harmless-Error Rule
Montana has the Uniform Probate Code’s dispensing power at § 72-2-523. A document that was not executed in compliance with § 72-2-522 may still be treated as a will if the proponent establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the decedent intended it as the will, as a revocation, as an addition or alteration, or as a revival of a previously revoked will.
Between valid handwritten wills, witnesses who may sign separately and within a reasonable time, and a harmless-error backstop, Montana is about as forgiving on form as American will law gets. South Dakota states its holographic rule first and has harmless error too. States at the other extreme — Delaware, whose statute simply declares a defective will void, or Louisiana, where non-compliance is an absolute nullity — give a careless family nothing.
Do not read that as permission to be careless. Harmless error is a litigated remedy: someone has to petition, pay for the proceeding, and carry a clear-and-convincing burden while the estate sits open. It exists to rescue a genuine will with a botched signing, not to excuse skipping the signing.
Electronic Wills Are Not Valid in Montana
Montana has not adopted the Uniform Electronic Wills Act. Section 72-2-522 lists its exceptions precisely — §§ 72-2-523, 72-2-526, 72-2-533 and the holographic subsection — and none is electronic. Montana’s Uniform Electronic Transactions Act then carves wills out from the other side:
“This part does not apply to a transaction to the extent it is governed by: (a) a law governing the creation and execution of wills, codicils, or testamentary trusts…” — Mont. Code Ann. § 30-18-103(2)(a)
So general electronic-signature law cannot be used to argue an electronically signed will into validity here. An online service can prepare your Montana will; the signing happens on paper.
Dying Without a Will in Montana: a Preferential Amount in Every Case
| Your situation | What your spouse receives |
|---|---|
| No descendant and no parent survive you | The entire intestate estate (§ 72-2-112(1)(a)) |
| All your descendants are your spouse’s, and your spouse has no others | The entire intestate estate (§ 72-2-112(1)(b)) |
| No descendant, but a parent survives | First $300,000 + 3/4 of the balance (§ 72-2-112(2)) |
| All your descendants are shared, but your spouse has other descendants | First $225,000 + 1/2 of the balance (§ 72-2-112(3)) |
| You have a descendant who isn’t your spouse’s | First $150,000 + 1/2 of the balance (§ 72-2-112(4)) |
Montana never strips the preferential amount. Even in the hardest case — you have a child from an earlier relationship — your spouse still takes $150,000 off the top plus half the balance. Compare Maine and Nebraska, both of which drop the setaside to zero in that exact scenario and leave the spouse a flat half.
That said, the default still splits a family estate. On a $900,000 Montana estate with two children from an earlier marriage, your spouse takes $150,000 plus $375,000 — and your children take $375,000 as co-owners of whatever the estate holds, which on a ranch or a piece of land means co-ownership of the land itself.
The balance passes to your descendants, then parents, then descendants of parents, then grandparents and theirs.
Montana Death Taxes: the Inheritance Tax Is Repealed, the Estate Tax Is a Dead Letter
Montana has no inheritance tax. Title 72, chapter 16 of the Montana Code — the old estate and inheritance tax chapter — has been dismantled: parts 1, 3, 4, 7 and 8 are all marked Repealed.
An estate tax statute does survive in part 9, but it is a “pick-up” tax that computes to nothing. Section 72-16-905 sets the tax “equal to the maximum tax credit allowable for state death taxes against the federal estate tax,” and states the purpose plainly: “to impose only those additional taxes that may be necessary to give this state the full benefit of the maximum tax credit allowable against the federal estate tax.” Congress replaced that federal credit with a deduction for deaths after 2004. The credit the Montana tax measures itself against no longer exists.
You will find sources saying Montana has an estate tax and sources saying it has none. The mechanism above is what is actually true — and Arkansas and West Virginia are in exactly the same position. Compare the states in our state-by-state comparison.
What a Will Costs in Montana
| Route | Typical cost | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Handwritten | $0 | Valid if the signature and material portions are in your hand — no date needed, but the most-contested format |
| Online service | $199 individual / $299 couple | Montana-specific will with witness pages, done in about an hour |
| Montana attorney | Flat fees vary — Bozeman and Missoula run above rural counties | Custom drafting and counsel, particularly where ranch land or water rights are involved |
Online pricing verified against Trust & Will’s published rates (August 2026). The State Bar of Montana publishes no fee survey, so we quote no attorney figures we can’t source. See how Montana compares with the rest of the country for national cost ranges and a state-by-state table of will requirements.
One Montana caution. If your estate includes ranch or farm ground, an online will is unlikely to be the whole answer. Dividing land among children who do not all ranch, keeping an operation viable, and dealing with water rights and grazing leases are attorney questions, and they are the questions Montana probate courts see most.
What a Montana Will Does Not Do
1. A will does not avoid probate. Montana probate is a district court process on the public record, though Montana’s informal probate handles most uncontested estates efficiently. Montana also offers transfer-on-death deeds for real estate. See what a living trust costs in Montana and our guide to avoiding probate.
2. A will does not remove your spouse’s elective share. Montana has an augmented-estate elective share at Title 72, chapter 2, part 2. Disinheriting a spouse is not something a will accomplishes on its own.
3. A will does not cover incapacity, and does not override beneficiary designations. Pair it with a durable power of attorney and a health care directive — see the five documents every family needs — and keep your beneficiary forms current.
Will vs. Trust for Montana Families
Every Montana adult needs a will — no default rule names a guardian for your children, and the intestacy table splits a family estate the moment anyone has children from an earlier relationship.
With no functioning state death tax, the Montana trust question is about probate avoidance, privacy, keeping minors’ shares out of a conservatorship, and above all passing land intact rather than fractured among heirs as co-owners. Start with Trust vs. Will: Which Does Your Family Need? and the numbers in our Montana living trust cost guide.
If the will is what you need today, Trust & Will’s Montana package includes the witness pages, guardianship nominations, and healthcare documents — build your Montana will here.
FAQ
Does a will have to be notarized in Montana?
No. Validity takes your signature and two witnesses, each signing within a reasonable time after witnessing your signing or acknowledgment (§ 72-2-522). The notary appears only in the optional self-proving affidavit (§ 72-2-524).
Are handwritten wills legal in Montana?
Yes, with no witnesses, if the signature and material portions are in your handwriting (§ 72-2-522(2)). Montana requires no date, and under § 72-2-522(3) even printed portions of the document can help prove you intended it as your will.
Can a defective will still be admitted in Montana?
Possibly. Section 72-2-523 is Montana’s harmless-error provision: a court may treat a document as a will if the proponent proves by clear and convincing evidence that the decedent intended it as such. It is a litigated remedy, not a shortcut — it requires a court proceeding and a heavy burden of proof.
Can I make an electronic will in Montana?
No. Montana has not adopted the Uniform Electronic Wills Act, and § 30-18-103(2)(a) removes wills, codicils and testamentary trusts from the scope of Montana’s Uniform Electronic Transactions Act.
What happens if I die without a will in Montana?
Your spouse takes everything if you leave no descendant and no parent, or if all your descendants are theirs and they have no others. Otherwise: $300,000 plus three-quarters if a parent survives and you have no descendants; $225,000 plus half if your spouse has outside children; $150,000 plus half if you do (§ 72-2-112). Montana keeps a preferential amount in every case.
Does Montana have an estate or inheritance tax?
No functioning one. Montana’s inheritance tax parts are repealed, and the surviving estate tax statute (§ 72-16-905) measures the tax by the federal credit for state death taxes — a credit Congress eliminated for deaths after 2004 — so no Montana estate tax is collected.
Montana Law Cited on This Page
- Mont. Code Ann. § 72-2-522 — execution; witnessed wills; holographic wills
- Mont. Code Ann. § 72-2-523 — harmless error
- Mont. Code Ann. § 72-2-112 — share of spouse
- Mont. Code Ann. § 72-16-905 — estate tax, how computed
- Mont. Code Ann. § 30-18-103 — Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, scope
Update log — August 2026: page created. Execution, holographic, harmless-error, electronic-record, intestacy and death-tax rules verified against the official Montana Code Annotated published by the Montana Legislature. Reviewed when Montana law changes.