Court Safekeeping of Original Wills in Montana
At a glance
| Statutory safekeeping route | Voluntary lifetime deposit with any court under court rules (§ 72-2-535). |
|---|---|
| Who may deposit | Testator or testator's agent (§ 72-2-535). |
| Proper court or clerk | Any court, subject to court rules (§ 72-2-535). |
| Envelope and filing record | Will must be sealed; section specifies no receipt or index (§ 72-2-535). |
| Fee and receipt | Section 72-2-535 specifies no fee or receipt; court rules govern deposit. |
| Custody before death | Court keeps will sealed and confidential (§ 72-2-535). |
| Retrieval before death | Testator or person authorized by testator's signed writing (§ 72-2-535). |
| Notice after death | Once informed of death, court notifies designated recipient (§ 72-2-535). |
| Opening and release after death | Court delivers to designated person on request or may deliver to appropriate court (§ 72-2-535). |
Requirements one by one
Lifetime custody
Mont. Code Ann. § 72-2-535 requires the court to keep the deposited will sealed and confidential. It allows a conservator to examine a protected testator's will under procedures preserving confidentiality as far as possible, then requires the document to be resealed and kept on deposit.
Lifetime retrieval
Under § 72-2-535, the testator may receive the will, as may someone the testator authorized in a signed writing. The statute does not give an agent who made the deposit a separate right to retrieve it.
Notice after death
When told of the testator's death, the court notifies any person designated to receive the will. Section 72-2-535 permits delivery to that person on request or to the appropriate court.
What trips people up
The deposit is governed by court rules under § 72-2-535. The statute itself gives no fixed fee, receipt form, or indexing requirement. A separate postdeath custodian rule, § 72-2-536, requires delivery with reasonable promptness on an interested person's request and provides damages or contempt remedies for willful non-delivery.
Common questions
Can the testator's agent choose the court? Section 72-2-535 permits the testator or agent to deposit with any court, subject to that court's rules.
Can a conservator remove the protected person's will after examination? Section 72-2-535 calls for the will to be resealed and kept on deposit.
Statutes and sources
- Mont. Code Ann. §§ 72-2-535–536: current official text, quoted with source URLs and access dates above.
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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