Montana probate leads and inheritance data, by county.
If you are researching Montana probate leads, the public court file is only one part of the inherited-property market. USLeadList starts with death and property records, typically about five weeks after death, and generates an average of 470 records a month across Montana.
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Montana counties
Browse 56 counties.Every Montana county has its own page. Highlighted counties currently generate the largest monthly record volume.
How inherited property moves in Montana
Verified state rules behind the county data.Probate rules matter because they determine when a public court record appears and which inherited properties never appear in an ordinary probate case.
What changes for an heir
Montana attaches a recurring cost to holding a house nobody lives in. Mont. Code Ann. 15-6-134, amended in the 2025 session, taxes class four residential property at a flat 1.9 percent of market value unless it qualifies for the homestead or long-term rental rate, which is graduated and starts at 0.76 percent. The statute sets those brackets as multiples of a statewide median residential value that the Department of Revenue recalculates every two years at the periodic reappraisal (15-6-134(4) and (5)(b)), and for tax year 2026 the department put them at 0.76 percent on the first $378,000, 0.90 percent on the portion between $378,001 and $756,000, 1.10 percent on the portion between $756,001 and $1,511,999, and 1.90 percent on any portion of $1,512,000 or more, that top bracket being four times the median under 15-6-134(3)(b)(i)(D). A homestead requires the owner to occupy the property at least 7 months of the year; a long-term rental requires tenancies of 28 days or more for at least 7 months. An inherited house left vacant, kept as a second home or rented short term qualifies for neither and is taxed at 1.9 percent every year it is held.
Where probate records appear
District Court Montana District Court Public Access Portal, with a separate portal for the courts of limited jurisdiction. The Judicial Branch describes the portal as a courtesy rather than a required statutory service, and coverage grows court by court as each moves onto the central case management system. Supreme Court dockets, opinions and briefs are searched separately through the Judicial Branch site.
Ways property can avoid ordinary probate
Transfer on death deed under the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act, Mont. Code Ann. 72-6-401 through 72-6-418, enacted by ch. 313, L. 2019, which also carries forward beneficiary deeds executed and recorded under the earlier statute (72-6-417). Joint tenancy with right of survivorship and revocable living trusts are the other common routes. The 72-3-1101 affidavit reaches personal property only and cannot transfer a house.
Small-estate route
Affidavit for collection of personal property where the probate estate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $100,000 and 30 days have passed since death, with no personal representative appointed or pending (Mont. Code Ann. 72-3-1101; the $100,000 figure was set by ch. 453, L. 2023). It reaches personal property only. Summary administration under 72-3-1103 separately lets a personal representative distribute at once, without notice to creditors, where the whole estate less liens does not exceed the homestead allowance, exempt property, family allowance, costs of administration, reasonable funeral expenses and reasonable medical and hospital expenses.
Timing investors should understand
Notice to creditors is published once a week for 3 successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation, and claims are barred unless presented within 4 months after the date of first publication (Mont. Code Ann. 72-3-801(1)). A creditor given written notice has 4 months from first publication or 30 days from mailing, whichever is later (72-3-801(2)). In all events, claims that arose before death are barred 1 year after the decedent's death (72-3-803(1)). The small estate affidavit under 72-3-1101 is available 30 days after death. The Montana Judicial Branch publishes no typical duration.
Montana inheritance volume
Updated monthly · September 2026 edition.Newly inherited residential properties recorded in Montana, from the same database that builds the lists. Published nationally in the Inheritance Property Index.
Biggest Montana counties by volume
- Yellowstone 764
- Flathead 598
- Cascade 450
- Missoula 445
- Lewis And Clark 365
- Gallatin 331
- Ravalli 291
- Silver Bow 205
Free to cite with attribution: USLeadList Inheritance Property Index, September 2026 edition. See every state and download the data.
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