The Estate Planning Guide Est. 2026

What Happens If You Die Without a Will in Montana?

By The Estate Planning Guide Editorial Team Researched against primary sources

Published June 3, 2026 7 min read

Quick answer

If a married Montanan with children dies without a will, the surviving spouse inherits the entire intestate estate when all of the children are also the spouse's children and the spouse has no other children. If any child is from a different relationship, the spouse's share drops and the children take part of the estate. Montana is a common-law (separate property) state, so these shares apply to the whole estate.

⚠️ Educational information only — not legal, tax, or financial advice.

The figures on this page are general estimates. Laws, fees, thresholds, and prices differ by state and change often, and your own situation may change the result. Before you act, confirm the current numbers and rules for Montana with a licensed professional — an attorney, tax advisor, or licensed agent as appropriate. Reading this page does not create a professional relationship.

How intestacy works in Montana

When someone dies in Montana without a valid will, Mont. Code Ann. §72-2-112 et seq. decides who inherits. The statute orders potential heirs by their relationship to the deceased — spouse and children first, then parents, then more distant relatives — and specifies exactly what share each one receives.

Montana is a common-law (separate property) state, so there is no community-property split; the shares above apply to the whole intestate estate.

What happens when there’s a surviving spouse only (no children, no parents)

If there is no descendant and no parent of the decedent, the surviving spouse inherits the entire intestate estate.

What happens when there’s a surviving spouse and children

This is the most common situation and where Montana’s rules get specific:

If all of the decedent's descendants are also descendants of the surviving spouse and the spouse has no other descendants, the spouse takes the entire intestate estate. If the spouse has other descendants (from another relationship) but all of the decedent's descendants are shared, the spouse takes the first $225,000 plus 1/2 of the balance, and the descendants share the rest. If the decedent has one or more descendants who are not the surviving spouse's, the spouse takes the first $150,000 plus 1/2 of the balance, and those descendants share the rest by representation (Mont. Code Ann. §72-2-112).

For families where everyone is from the same marriage, the spouse generally gets a meaningful share. For blended families — where one or more children are from a prior relationship — many states change the math substantially. If your situation might fit that, the section above is exactly the rule that applies.

What happens when there’s a surviving spouse and parents (no children)

If there is no descendant but a parent survives, the surviving spouse takes the first $300,000 plus 3/4 of any balance; the decedent's parent(s) take the remaining 1/4 of the balance (Mont. Code Ann. §72-2-112).

What happens when there are children but no spouse

The entire estate passes to the decedent's descendants; if all are of the same degree they take equally, otherwise a deceased child's share passes to that child's descendants by representation (Mont. Code Ann. §72-2-113).

What happens when there’s no spouse and no children

Order of inheritance: descendants → parents → descendants of parents (siblings and their issue) → grandparents and their descendants (split between paternal and maternal sides) → and if no taker, the estate escheats to the State of Montana.

This is where intestacy starts producing results that often surprise people — distant relatives the deceased may not have been close to can end up inheriting, and a long-time unmarried partner inherits nothing.

A Montana-specific quirk

Montana follows the Uniform Probate Code: a surviving spouse of a blended family receives a fixed dollar amount 'off the top' ($225,000 or $150,000) plus half the balance before the children take, and the dollar thresholds are periodically indexed for inflation under Mont. Code Ann. §72-2-116.

What intestacy can’t do (and why it usually fails most people)

Even when Montana’s intestacy rules produce a result close to what someone would have chosen, the rules can never:

  • Leave anything to an unmarried partner — intestacy doesn’t recognize unmarried partners regardless of relationship length
  • Leave anything to a step-child you didn’t formally adopt
  • Leave anything to a friend, charity, or specific person outside your family
  • Name a guardian for your minor children — a Montana judge picks
  • Specify who handles your estate — a court appoints an administrator
  • Identify specific items for specific people
  • Account for blended-family dynamics in nuanced ways
  • Reduce probate costs and time — intestate estates still go through full probate

For most Montana families, a basic will — costing $300 to $1,500 with a local attorney, or $50 to $300 with an online service — is meaningfully better than the default rules.

What probate looks like in Montana when there’s no will

If someone dies intestate in Montana, the estate still goes through probate. A court appoints an administrator (rather than an “executor” — the title is different for intestacy) to:

  1. Inventory the estate’s assets
  2. Notify creditors and pay debts
  3. Identify legal heirs under Montana’s intestacy statute
  4. Distribute remaining assets to heirs according to the statute

For details on what probate costs and how long it takes in Montana, see:

What to do this week if you don’t have a will

The most useful single move for any Montana adult without a will:

  1. Write a basic will. Either through an online service ($50-$300) or a local attorney ($300-$1,500). Name an executor, name a guardian for any minor children, and specify who inherits what.
  2. Update beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance, and POD/TOD bank accounts. These pass outside both the will and intestacy.
  3. Sign a financial power of attorney and a healthcare directive. These handle incapacity (not death) and prevent your family from needing court-appointed guardianship.

For a Montana family with a typical estate, this whole package usually costs under $1,500 and takes a couple of weeks of intermittent work. It’s substantially cheaper and less stressful than what happens if you don’t do it.

What happens without a will in other states

Intestacy rules differ from state to state — here’s what happens when someone dies without a will elsewhere:

This page explains Montana intestacy law in general terms as of 2026. It is not legal advice; intestacy provisions, dollar thresholds, and statute citations can change. Confirm current rules with a licensed Montana attorney before relying on this page. Sources: Mont. Code Ann. §72-2-112 (share of spouse), Mont. Code Ann. §72-2-113 (share of heirs other than spouse), Mont. Code Ann. §72-2-114 (representation), Mont. Code Ann. §72-2-116 (cost-of-living adjustment of amounts).

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