What Factors Decide Who Receives Your Property After You Die?

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1. Designating Beneficiaries through Contractual Arrangements
   MSU Extension MontGuide
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   Focuses on transferring assets through contractual arrangements, such as those commonly found with insurance policies, individual retirement accounts and employee benefit plans. 
   
   
2. Dying Without a Will in Montana: Who Receives Your Property?
   

   (PDF Version) (HTML Version-ADA Accessible) [Order Online]
   Includes legal terms and detailed examples of possible scenarios for distribution of property should a person die before writing a will in Montana.
   
   

3. Estate Planning: Getting Started
   MSU Extension MontGuide
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4.  Dying Without a Will in Montana Interactive Website
   

   Who receives your property if you pass away without a written will? Use this website to discover how your property will be distributed under Montana law if you are a Montana resident and if you pass away without a written will (as do 7 out of 10 Americans).
   
   

5. Montana Common Law Marriage & Estate Planning
   (MSU Extension MontGuide)
   (PDF Version) (HTML Version-ADA Accessible)  [Order Online]
   Explores Montana common law marriages from an estate planning perspective. Topics include: The definition of common law marriage, what establishes a common law marriage, what documentation is necessary for a common law marriage, and what amount the surviving spouse of a common law marriage inherits.
   • Affidavit of Common Law Marriage Form (Montana Judicial Branch) (PDF)
   • Declaration of Marriage Form (Montana Department of Health and Human Services) (PDF)
     
     
6. Property Ownership
   MSU Extension MontGuide
   (PDF Version) (HTML Version-ADA Accessible) [Order Online]
   Describes the three main forms of property ownership in Montana, plus real-life examples of estate settlement for each.