Montana Marital Settlement and Separation Agreement

MARITAL SETTLEMENT AND SEPARATION AGREEMENT

(Montana — Attorney-Review Template)

This Agreement is made on [DATE] between:

Party A: [FULL LEGAL NAME], [PETITIONER / RESPONDENT / JOINT PETITIONER]
Party B: [FULL LEGAL NAME], [PETITIONER / RESPONDENT / JOINT PETITIONER]

Case: [CAPTION AND CAUSE NUMBER]
Court: [NUMBER] Judicial District Court, [COUNTY] County, Montana

The parties were married on [DATE] and separated on [DATE]. They intend this written agreement to resolve the matters identified below, subject to the Court's required review and orders.

Court-review rule: Under Mont. Code Ann. § 40-4-201, property and maintenance terms are generally binding unless the Court finds the agreement unconscionable. Child-support, parenting, and parental-contact terms remain subject to independent court review. This Agreement does not dissolve the marriage; only the Court's decree does.

1. Disclosure and Voluntary Agreement

Each party states that:

1. the asset, liability, income, and expense schedules attached to this Agreement are complete and accurate to the best of that party's knowledge;
2. all material changes through the date of court approval will be disclosed promptly;
3. the party has reviewed the other party's disclosures and had an opportunity to request supporting documents and valuation information;
4. the party signs voluntarily, without coercion or undisclosed promises; and
5. the party has had the opportunity to obtain independent legal, tax, valuation, title, benefits, and financial advice.

The parties understand that Mont. Code Ann. § 40-4-201 permits later decree modification under §§ 40-4-251 through 40-4-258 for failure to disclose assets and liabilities.

2. Court Treatment of Agreement

Select one after counsel confirms the intended decree language:

☐ Option A — Terms Set Forth in or Incorporated into Decree

The parties ask the Court to approve this Agreement, set forth or incorporate its approved terms in the decree, and order the parties to perform them. Approved terms set forth in the decree are enforceable as judgment and contract terms under Mont. Code Ann. § 40-4-201(5).

☐ Option B — Agreement Identified but Not Set Forth

The parties ask the Court, to the extent Mont. Code Ann. § 40-4-201(4)(b) permits, to identify this Agreement in the decree and state the Court's required findings without setting forth its terms. Counsel must confirm enforcement, confidentiality, filing, and incorporation consequences before selecting this option.

3. Property Framework

No automatic “separate property” exclusion: Montana's equitable-apportionment statute reaches property and assets belonging to either or both parties, however and whenever acquired and regardless of title. Premarital, gifted, inherited, exchanged, and post-separation property must be disclosed and analyzed under Mont. Code Ann. § 40-4-202; do not omit it merely because one party claims a nonmarital source.

3.1 Property Awarded to Party A

Party A is awarded the assets listed in Schedule A, subject to the stated liens, transfer steps, and equalization terms.

3.2 Property Awarded to Party B

Party B is awarded the assets listed in Schedule B, subject to the stated liens, transfer steps, and equalization terms.

3.3 Property to Be Sold or Retained Jointly

The assets in Schedule C will be handled under the detailed sale or co-ownership instructions there, including possession, carrying costs, listing agent, initial price, price reductions, repairs, offer acceptance, closing costs, tax allocation, and distribution of net proceeds.

3.4 Property Source and Contribution Claims

Schedule D identifies each party's claims concerning premarital acquisition, gift, inheritance, exchange property, post-separation acquisition, appreciation, homemaker contribution, maintenance or preservation, dissipation, and valuation. The agreed allocation reflects the parties' negotiated resolution of those claims.

3.5 Equalization Payment

[PARTY] will pay [PARTY] $[AMOUNT] by [DATE / INSTALLMENT TERMS]. Security, interest, prepayment, late-payment, and default terms: [DETAIL].

3.6 Real Property

For each parcel in Schedule E, state:

• full legal description and street address;
• award, sale, or continued co-ownership;
• mortgage, lien, tax, insurance, repair, and possession responsibilities;
• deed and recording deadline;
• refinance or sale deadline and fallback procedure; and
• responsibility for title, closing, and tax costs.

Do not assume an allocation or deed removes a borrower from a note or guaranty. Obtain any required creditor release, refinance, assumption, or payoff in writing and state the remedy if it cannot be completed.

3.7 Retirement and Employment Benefits

Each retirement, pension, deferred-compensation, stock, or employment benefit is addressed in Schedule F. Any transfer requiring a QDRO or plan-specific order will be completed through a separately reviewed order acceptable to the plan administrator and Court. The parties will not use this Agreement as a substitute for that order.

3.8 Personal Property, Vehicles, Businesses, and Digital Assets

Schedules must identify titles, account access, keys, records, inventory, receivables, debts, licenses, intellectual property, cryptocurrency, rewards, online accounts, and transfer deadlines with enough detail to perform the award.

4. Debts and Creditor Claims

Party A will pay the liabilities listed in Schedule G. Party B will pay the liabilities listed in Schedule H.

As between the parties, the party assigned a liability will timely pay it and reimburse the other for amounts the other is required to pay because of that assigned liability, including reasonable enforcement costs awarded by the Court. This allocation does not purport to alter a creditor's rights without the creditor's written agreement.

Joint accounts will be [CLOSED / FROZEN / REFINANCED] by [DATE]. Credit monitoring, statements, and notice of collection activity will be handled as follows: [DETAIL].

5. Maintenance

Select one and delete the others.

☐ Option A — No Maintenance

Each party asks the Court to award no maintenance. Counsel must specify whether the decree should preclude or preserve later modification to the extent Mont. Code Ann. §§ 40-4-201 and 40-4-208 permit: [PRECLUDE / PRESERVE / OTHER].

☐ Option B — Maintenance Paid

[PAYOR] will pay [RECIPIENT] $[AMOUNT] per [MONTH / OTHER PERIOD] beginning [DATE] and ending [DATE / EVENT], through [PAYMENT METHOD].

The parties state the following facts relevant to Mont. Code Ann. § 40-4-203: [PROPERTY AVAILABLE FOR NEEDS; EMPLOYMENT CAPACITY; CHILD-CARE CIRCUMSTANCES; FINANCIAL RESOURCES; TRAINING; STANDARD OF LIVING; MARRIAGE DURATION; AGE/HEALTH; PAYOR ABILITY].

Unless the written agreement or decree provides otherwise, future maintenance terminates upon the death of either party or the recipient's remarriage under Mont. Code Ann. § 40-4-208(4). The parties elect: [STATUTORY TERMINATION / DIFFERENT EXPRESS TERM REVIEWED BY COUNSEL].

Modification is governed by the decree, the express agreement terms, and Mont. Code Ann. §§ 40-4-201 and 40-4-208. Tax treatment must be confirmed separately for the payment dates and governing federal and state law.

6. Child Support and Medical Support

Delete Sections 6 through 8 if there are no children for whom the Court must enter support or parenting orders.

Children covered: [NAMES AND DATES OF BIRTH; USE CONFIDENTIAL IDENTIFIERS ONLY AS COURT RULES ALLOW].

6.1 Guideline Calculation

Attach the current Montana child-support guideline worksheet and financial inputs as Exhibit 1.

• Guideline payor: [PARENT]
• Guideline amount: $[AMOUNT] per month
• Commencement date: [DATE]
• Past support or credit: [DETAIL]

Mont. Code Ann. § 40-4-204 requires use of the guidelines even when parents agree. If the proposed amount varies from the guideline amount, state the guideline amount and the case-specific reasons supporting the requested variation: [DETAIL]. The Court must make the required findings.

6.2 Payment and Withholding

Payments will be made through [METHOD REQUIRED BY THE PROPOSED ORDER, INCLUDING DPHHS PROCESSING WHEN APPLICABLE]. The final order must address income withholding and payment processing as current law requires.

6.3 Medical Support

Health-plan responsibility: [PARENT / BOTH]. Premium allocation: [DETAIL]. Unreimbursed medical, dental, vision, counseling, prescription, and other agreed health expenses: [PERCENTAGE / PROCEDURE / DEADLINES]. The proposed order must include the medical-support provisions required by Mont. Code Ann. § 40-4-204.

6.4 Other Child Expenses

Child care, education, activities, travel, communication devices, and extraordinary expenses: [AMOUNTS; APPROVAL RULE; REIMBURSEMENT DOCUMENTATION; DEADLINES].

6.5 Modification and Termination

Modification and termination are governed by the decree and Mont. Code Ann. § 40-4-208. No party may rely on an informal oral change. Counsel must evaluate actual-notice timing, statutory waiting periods, guideline recalculation, emancipation, high-school status, disability, and death provisions for the particular child.

7. Final Parenting Plan

The parties submit the separate proposed Final Parenting Plan attached as Exhibit 2. It must be complete enough for incorporation into the decree under Mont. Code Ann. § 40-4-234 and must serve the children's best interests under § 40-4-212.

At minimum, the plan should address:

1. each parent's and child's legal residence, subject to lawful confidentiality protections;
2. the regular residential schedule;
3. holidays, school breaks, birthdays, vacations, and travel;
4. exchanges, transportation, punctuality, and authorized caregivers;
5. education, health care, spiritual development, activities, and decisionmaking;
6. records and information access;
7. parent-child communication;
8. emergency decisions and notice;
9. passports, interstate or international travel, and consent documents;
10. dispute-resolution steps that are safe and appropriate;
11. review triggers as children mature; and
12. any safety terms required by the facts and Court.

Each parent may make day-to-day decisions while the child resides with that parent and emergency safety or health decisions as provided in Mont. Code Ann. § 40-4-234(5), subject to the final order.

8. Move and Parenting-Plan Amendment Procedure

The parties will follow Mont. Code Ann. §§ 40-4-217 and 40-4-219 rather than a fixed mileage threshold.

A parent intending to change residence must provide written notice unless lawfully precluded. If the move will significantly affect the child's contact with the other parent, the moving parent must file and serve a motion to amend the residential schedule and a proposed revised schedule not less than 30 days before the proposed move. The statutory notice contains required language, and the receiving parent generally has 21 days after service to respond and provide an alternate proposed schedule.

The parties may use counseling or mediation for parenting disputes when safe and appropriate, but no prefiling mediation requirement applies to an emergency or a matter involving abuse or threat of abuse. Parenting-plan amendments remain subject to Mont. Code Ann. § 40-4-219 and the child's best interests.

9. Tax Matters

Tax filing status, dependency claims, child-related credits, estimated payments, refunds, liabilities, audit cooperation, basis records, carryovers, and information exchange are allocated in Schedule I. Each party acknowledges that tax eligibility is controlled by applicable tax law, not solely by this Agreement, and will obtain independent tax advice.

10. Insurance, Estate Planning, and Beneficiary Designations

Life, health, vehicle, homeowner, renter, umbrella, and other insurance obligations: [DETAIL]. Any life-insurance security for support or maintenance must state owner, insured, beneficiary, amount, duration, proof, replacement, and lapse remedies.

Each party is responsible for reviewing wills, trusts, powers of attorney, transfer-on-death arrangements, and beneficiary designations. No retirement-plan beneficiary or survivorship right changes unless completed in the form the governing law and plan require.

11. Implementation and Enforcement

Each party will sign deeds, titles, account forms, QDROs, releases, and other documents reasonably necessary to perform approved terms by the deadlines in the schedules.

If a dispute arises, the parties will first exchange a written description and requested cure, unless immediate court action is reasonably necessary for safety, preservation of property, support, parenting, creditor, filing, or limitations concerns. Remedies are those available under the approved decree, this Agreement, and applicable law. No artificial liability cap or force-majeure excuse applies to family-support, parenting, disclosure, or property-transfer duties.

Attorney-fee and cost requests remain for the Court under applicable law, the decree, and case-specific findings; this template does not create an automatic prevailing-party award.

12. Modification, Waiver, and Entire Agreement

1. A modification or waiver must be in a signed writing and must receive court approval when required.
2. Property-disposition terms are subject to the limited modification rules in Mont. Code Ann. § 40-4-208(3), including written consent or lawful reopening grounds.
3. Child support, maintenance, parenting, and parental contact remain subject to the governing statutes and decree; the parties cannot eliminate the Court's authority by private contract.
4. This Agreement and its schedules contain the complete settlement, except for separately identified court orders and instruments.
5. If a provision is unenforceable, the Court may address it without rewriting unrelated terms, subject to the statutory review of the overall agreement.
6. No assignment may impair a child's rights, a support duty, a parenting duty, or the Court's authority.

13. Independent Review and Signatures

Each party acknowledges having read the entire Agreement and all schedules before signing.

PARTY A

Signature: ____________________________________
Name: [NAME]
Date: [DATE]

Counsel, if any: _______________________________
Name: [NAME / FIRM]

PARTY B

Signature: ____________________________________
Name: [NAME]
Date: [DATE]

Counsel, if any: _______________________________
Name: [NAME / FIRM]

Optional Acknowledgment

Use only if counsel, the Court, a recorder, a plan, or a transfer document requires or recommends acknowledgment. A deed, QDRO, vehicle title, or other implementing instrument may require its own execution form.

State of Montana
County of ____________________

This instrument was acknowledged before me on [DATE] by [NAME].

____________________________________
Notarial officer
Title/Rank: _________________________
Commission expiration, if any: ______

SCHEDULES AND EXHIBITS

• Schedule A: Assets Awarded to Party A
• Schedule B: Assets Awarded to Party B
• Schedule C: Sale or Continued Co-Ownership Instructions
• Schedule D: Property Source, Contribution, Dissipation, and Valuation Claims
• Schedule E: Real Property
• Schedule F: Retirement and Employment Benefits
• Schedule G: Debts Assigned to Party A
• Schedule H: Debts Assigned to Party B
• Schedule I: Tax Matters
• Exhibit 1: Current Montana Child-Support Guideline Worksheet and Inputs
• Exhibit 2: Proposed Final Parenting Plan
• Exhibit 3: Payment and Transfer Calendar

FINAL COUNSEL CHECK

• ☐ Disclose every asset and liability, regardless of acquisition date, source, or title.
• ☐ Attach valuation support and identify all contingent, digital, business, trust, and retirement interests.
• ☐ Confirm the chosen § 40-4-201 decree-treatment option.
• ☐ Use the current Montana guideline worksheet and state required reasons for any child-support variation.
• ☐ Complete a separate final parenting plan satisfying current court forms and § 40-4-234.
• ☐ Remove the old mileage-based relocation clause and use the statutory significant-contact procedure.
• ☐ State whether maintenance is modifiable and whether death/remarriage termination differs from the statutory default.
• ☐ Do not rely on the agreement or a deed to release a spouse from creditor liability.
• ☐ Prepare separate deeds, titles, QDROs, and plan forms; calendar every implementation deadline.
• ☐ Screen for coercion, family violence, safety needs, confidential addresses, and whether mediation is appropriate.

OFFICIAL SOURCES

• Mont. Code Ann. § 40-4-201
• Mont. Code Ann. § 40-4-202
• Mont. Code Ann. § 40-4-203
• Mont. Code Ann. § 40-4-204
• Mont. Code Ann. § 40-4-208
• Mont. Code Ann. § 40-4-212
• Mont. Code Ann. § 40-4-217
• Mont. Code Ann. § 40-4-219
• Mont. Code Ann. § 40-4-234