Personal Representative's Deed - Montana

PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE'S DEED — MONTANA

NO INDIVIDUAL OR TITLE WARRANTY

Recording requested by: [NAME], [ADDRESS]

After recording return to: [NAME], [ADDRESS]

Send property-tax statements to: [NAME], [ADDRESS]

Property address: [________________________________]

Geocode / parcel number: [________________________________]

1. ESTATE AND APPOINTMENT

Estate: Estate of [DECEDENT'S FULL LEGAL NAME], Deceased

Court: Montana [JUDICIAL DISTRICT] Judicial District Court, [COUNTY] County

Cause number: [________________________________]

Personal Representative: [FULL LEGAL NAME], whose mailing address is [ADDRESS] ("Personal Representative")

Letters issued: [DATE]

☐ Letters Testamentary

☐ Letters of Administration

☐ Other current authority: [________________________________]

Personal Representative represents in this Deed that the appointment remains in effect and that the attached or title-company-reviewed letters, will, and court orders disclose every restriction relevant to this conveyance.

2. GRANTEE AND PURPOSE

Grantee: [FULL LEGAL NAME], whose mailing address is [ADDRESS] ("Grantee")

Grantee vesting: [INSERT THE EXACT TENANCY / OWNERSHIP LANGUAGE APPROVED BY MONTANA COUNSEL OR THE TITLE COMPANY].

This conveyance is made as:

☐ A sale for [CONSIDERATION IN WORDS] Dollars ($[AMOUNT]), receipt of which the Estate acknowledges.

☐ A distribution to a successor or beneficiary under [WILL / INTESTACY / SETTLEMENT / COURT ORDER], with no additional monetary consideration.

☐ Other authorized estate transaction: [________________________________]

3. AUTHORITY

Subject to restrictions imposed by the Montana Uniform Probate Code, the will, an order in a formal proceeding, and the statutory priorities governing administration:

• Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-613(6) authorizes a personal representative acting reasonably for interested persons to acquire or dispose of estate assets, including land, at public or private sale and for cash or credit.
• Section 72-3-613(23) authorizes the personal representative to sell, mortgage, or lease estate real or personal property or an interest in it for cash, credit, or both, with or without security for an unpaid balance.
• Section 72-3-619 gives a personal representative, until termination of the appointment, the same power over estate title that an absolute owner would have, in trust for creditors and others interested in the estate. That power may be exercised without notice, hearing, or court order.

The parties must still inspect the current letters for any endorsed supervised-administration restriction and review the will, court orders, claims, expenses, statutory priorities, and transaction terms before relying on that general authority.

4. CONVEYANCE

Personal Representative, solely in that fiduciary capacity and not individually, CONVEYS AND RELEASES to Grantee all right, title, and interest of the Estate in the real property situated in [COUNTY] County, Montana, described in Exhibit A, together with the Estate's interest in the improvements, easements, rights, and appurtenances belonging to it (the "Property").

This conveyance is subject to the reservations, exclusions, and other matters specifically listed in Exhibit B.

5. NO WARRANTY OR INDIVIDUAL OBLIGATION

This is a no-warranty fiduciary conveyance. Personal Representative conveys only the Estate's interest, if any, and makes no covenant or warranty concerning ownership, title, authority beyond the stated fiduciary authority, encumbrances, possession, boundary, condition, use, value, or fitness of the Property.

Personal Representative signs solely in the representative capacity stated in this Deed. No provision creates an individual title warranty, indemnity, payment obligation, or other personal liability of Personal Representative.

6. EXECUTION

[PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE'S NAME], solely as Personal Representative of the Estate of [DECEDENT'S NAME], Deceased

Signature: ____________________________________

Printed name: [________________________________]

Date: [________________________________]

7. REPRESENTATIVE-CAPACITY ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The short form below tracks Mont. Code Ann. § 1-5-610(2). The notarial officer must complete all information and affix the required official stamp.

State of [________________]

County of [________________]

This record was acknowledged before me on [DATE] by [PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE'S NAME] as Personal Representative of the Estate of [DECEDENT'S NAME], Deceased.

Signature of notarial officer: ______________________________

Printed name and title: [___________________________________]

[OFFICIAL STAMP]

EXHIBIT A — LEGAL DESCRIPTION

Insert the complete legal description from the current vesting deed or a title-company-approved source. A street address or geocode alone is not a substitute.

[FULL LEGAL DESCRIPTION]

EXHIBIT B — RESERVATIONS, EXCLUSIONS, AND ACCEPTED TITLE MATTERS

1. [________________________________]
2. [________________________________]
3. [________________________________]

☐ None.

MONTANA PROBATE AND RECORDING CHECKLIST

• ☐ Appointment current. Obtain certified or title-company-approved proof that Personal Representative's appointment remains effective and identify any supervised-administration restriction endorsed on the letters.
• ☐ Authority reviewed. Read the will, letters, court orders, formal-proceeding restrictions, estate plan, settlement documents, and applicable statutory priorities. Do not state that a court order is categorically required or unnecessary without that review.
• ☐ Transaction approved. Document why the sale, distribution, or other disposition is authorized and reasonable for interested persons under Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-613.
• ☐ Third-party protection analyzed. Section 72-3-618 protects a person who in good faith and without notice assists a personal representative or deals with one for value as if the power were properly exercised, subject to the section's terms and endorsed supervised restrictions. Do not overextend that protection to a transaction outside its text.
• ☐ Vesting. Have counsel or the title company supply exact vesting language. If joint tenancy is intended, name the joint tenants in the instrument as contemplated by Mont. Code Ann. § 70-20-105.
• ☐ Title and exceptions. Match the Estate and Decedent to current record title. Reconcile Exhibit B against the title commitment, survey, water-right and mineral records, taxes, leases, possession, liens, claims, mortgages, and closing terms.
• ☐ Acknowledgment. Before the deed can be recorded, its execution generally must be acknowledged or proved as Mont. Code Ann. § 70-21-203 provides. Use the current representative-capacity certificate under § 1-5-610(2).
• ☐ Realty transfer certificate. Deliver the completed Montana realty transfer certificate required by Mont. Code Ann. § 15-7-305. Under § 15-7-307(9), a certificate for a decedent-estate transfer need not disclose consideration information, but the certificate itself still applies.
• ☐ Recording county. Submit the deed to the county clerk and recorder in the Montana county where the Property is situated. Mont. Code Ann. § 70-21-208.
• ☐ Prompt recording. A properly acknowledged and recorded conveyance gives constructive notice from filing. An unrecorded instrument remains valid between the parties and persons with notice, but it can lose priority to a later good-faith purchaser or encumbrancer whose conveyance is first duly recorded. Mont. Code Ann. §§ 70-21-102, 70-21-302, and 70-21-304.
• ☐ County formatting and fees. Confirm the receiving county's current margin, legibility, page-size, return-address, indexing, electronic-recording, and fee requirements immediately before submission.

OFFICIAL SOURCES

• Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-613 — transactions authorized for personal representative
• Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-618 — persons dealing with personal representative
• Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-619 — powers over estate title
• Mont. Code Ann. § 70-20-101 — transfer to be in writing
• Mont. Code Ann. § 70-20-105 — joint tenancy
• Mont. Code Ann. §§ 70-21-102, 70-21-203, and 70-21-208 — recording prerequisites and county
• Mont. Code Ann. §§ 70-21-302 and 70-21-304 — constructive notice and priority
• Mont. Code Ann. § 1-5-610 — short-form notarial certificates
• Mont. Code Ann. §§ 15-7-305 and 15-7-307 — realty transfer certificate