Affidavit of Surviving Joint Tenant Title-Clearance Requirements in Montana
At a glance
| Covered survivorship title | Joint-tenancy interest or life-estate interest, defined as a nonprobate real-property interest (Mont. Code Ann. § 7-4-2613(1)(c)) |
|---|---|
| Instrument or filing | Permitted acknowledged death-and-termination statement for the land record; mandatory Realty Transfer Certificate for the operation-of-law transfer (§§ 7-4-2613, 15-7-304 to -305) |
| Who may sign or file | Death statement: no eligible-signer class stated; the executing person acknowledges it. RTC: transaction parties or their agents/representatives (§ 15-7-305) |
| Required contents | Statement that the nonprobate-interest holder died and the interest terminated, plus legal description; same-county recorded material may be incorporated by reference (§ 7-4-2613) |
| Death evidence | Acknowledged statement recites death; current Form RTC requires a certified death-certificate copy for joint-tenancy or life-estate termination. The certificate need not be attached to the recorded statement |
| Execution formalities | Death statement must be acknowledged; no special oath, jurat, perjury declaration, witness, personal-knowledge, or survivor-only rule stated. Form RTC is signed by its preparer |
| Office and deadline | County clerk and recorder where the real property lies; RTC filed with recorder and operation-of-law packet should also go to local Department of Revenue office. No express post-death deadline |
| Statewide companion filings | Realty Transfer Certificate required; attach certified death-certificate copy. Joint-tenancy/life-estate death is an exception from sales-price information (Form RTC; Mont. Code Ann. §§ 15-7-304 to -307) |
| Recording effect | Records the statement that death occurred and the deceased interest terminated; Department of Revenue need not change tax-ownership records until it receives the transfer certificate (§ 15-7-304) |
Requirements one by one
The acknowledged land-record statement
Montana Code § 7-4-2613(1)(c) gives joint tenancy and life estates one shared route. It calls each a “nonprobate interest in real property” and makes an acknowledged statement eligible for recording after the holder dies.
The statement has two required items: it says the holder died and the holder's interest in the property is terminated, and it gives the property's legal description. Under subsection (2), the statement may incorporate a description or other material from another properly recorded instrument in the same county. Mont. Code Ann. § 70-21-208 places the recording with the county clerk where the affected real property is situated.
The section does not say that only a surviving joint tenant may execute the statement. It also does not require a death date or place, name the vesting deed, demand a no-severance recital, require personal knowledge, or impose a post-death filing deadline.
Acknowledgment, not a mandatory jurat
The statement itself must be acknowledged. Section 70-21-203 says execution is acknowledged by the person executing the instrument.
Neither provision requires the special death statement to be sworn, verified on oath, signed under penalty of perjury, witnessed, or executed by a survivor. Those formalities should not be treated as statutory fields merely because a local form or drafting packet includes them.
The RTC and certified death certificate
The land-record statement is only one half of the statewide procedure. Mont. Code Ann. § 15-7-304 and § 15-7-305 require the prescribed Realty Transfer Certificate for real-property transfers and condition acceptance of a transfer instrument on the county clerk and recorder's receipt of that certificate. The clerk then transmits the executed RTC to the Department of Revenue.
Current Form RTC treats termination of joint tenancy or a life estate by death as a transfer by operation of law. It requires a copy of the certified death certificate to be attached to the RTC. The form says the RTC must accompany a recorded transfer instrument and that an operation-of-law packet should also be filed with the local Department of Revenue office.
The certified copy is therefore an RTC attachment. Section 7-4-2613 does not make it an attachment to the acknowledged public-record statement, although subsection (1)(d) separately makes death certificates recordable.
What trips people up
The RTC is required even though sales-price information is not. Mont. Code Ann. § 15-7-307 says the certificate applies to all transfers, while current Form RTC lists termination of joint tenancy or a life estate by death as an exception from completing the sales-price section.
Do not turn “acknowledged” into “sworn.” An acknowledgment and a jurat serve different functions. The death-statement statute requires the former and does not prescribe the latter.
The tax-record update depends on the companion filing. Section 15-7-304 says the Department of Revenue need not change its assessment or tax ownership records until it receives the transfer certificate and the transfer is reported as provided by rule.
Common questions
Must the surviving joint tenant sign the statement? The statute states no eligible-signer class. It requires the statement to be acknowledged by the person executing it.
What must the statement say? It must say the nonprobate-interest holder died and that the holder's interest terminated, and it must include the legal description.
Is there a statewide filing deadline? The surveyed provisions and current RTC state no number of days or months after death.
Statutes and sources
- Mont. Code Ann. § 7-4-2613 — recordable acknowledged statement, covered joint-tenancy and life-estate interests, contents, and incorporation by reference. https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0070/chapter_0040/part_0260/section_0130/0070-0040-0260-0130.html (accessed 2026-08-03).
- Mont. Code Ann. §§ 70-21-203, 70-21-208 — acknowledgment and county of recording. https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0700/chapter_0210/part_0020/section_0030/0700-0210-0020-0030.html and https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0700/chapter_0210/part_0020/section_0080/0700-0210-0020-0080.html (accessed 2026-08-03).
- Mont. Code Ann. §§ 15-7-304 to -305, 15-7-307 — RTC requirement, transmission, tax-record condition, and consideration exceptions. https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0150/chapter_0070/part_0030/section_0040/0150-0070-0030-0040.html (accessed 2026-08-03).
- Montana Department of Revenue Form RTC (V4 12/2025) — operation-of-law filing instructions and certified death-certificate attachment. https://revenuefiles.mt.gov/files/Forms/Realty_Transfer_Certificate_Form_RTC.pdf (accessed 2026-08-03).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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