Your state’s pack. New issues arrive periodically on Mondays. Bookmark it. I built this for the Montana T&E solo who knows the Uniform Probate Code (M.C.A. Title 72) cold but still loses an afternoon a week hunting the current homestead number, the Montana Medicaid / the Big Sky Waiver posture, whether the latest opinion from the State Bar of Montana changes how you scope an engagement, or whether a recent Montana Supreme Court decision just moved the law on capacity, undue influence, or a trustee’s duties. What’s below is what mattered in Montana lately — the week’s developments and the recent rulings from the bench.
For licensed attorneys. This pack is general legal information and professional commentary for practicing attorneys — it is not legal advice, does not apply to any specific matter, and creates no attorney-client relationship. Verify every authority against the cited primary source before relying on it with a client. Published by Mike Moss, a Utah-admitted attorney, as an AI-enablement information product; it is not an offer of legal services and is not a representation that the author is admitted to practice in your jurisdiction.
Three developments from the last seven days that I think actually matter to a Montana T&E solo. Each one has a read that lands on your practice specifically — and each one comes with the citation so you can verify the detail yourself before you use it with a client.
Per the Montana Department of Revenue, the 2025 Legislature (HB 231 and SB 542) restructured residential property taxation, adding a homestead component and a higher second-home rate phasing in for tax years 2025–2026. Clients must enroll for the reduced homestead rate between Dec. 1, 2025 and Mar. 1, 2026.
The new tiers turn on owner-occupied-homestead versus second-home status, and that occupancy and titling question intersects directly with how you draft revocable trusts, life estates, and joint-tenancy deeds. Pair a client-facing note on the enrollment deadline with a titling check so trust-held or jointly-held residences still capture the homestead rate.
Montana Department of Revenue · 2025 Property Tax Information · REVENUE.MT.GOV
Title 72 now publishes as the 2025 MCA, confirming the post-2025-session statutory text as current. The elective share is no longer at the repealed M.C.A. 72-2-221: it lives at M.C.A. 72-2-232 et seq. (the 1990-UPC augmented-estate scheme), giving the surviving spouse 50% of the marital-property portion of the augmented estate.
Any template or client file still citing 72-2-221 is citing a repealed section. Sweep the form library and re-point elective-share references to the 72-2-231 through 72-2-244 part before the next spousal-election matter forces the question.
Montana Code Annotated · Title 72 · MCA.LEGMT.GOV
DPHHS’s current long-term-care Medicaid parameters for 2026 govern this year’s eligibility and spend-down planning: a $2,000 individual asset limit, a community-spouse resource allowance up to the federal maximum of $162,660 (minimum $32,532), and a 60-month look-back.
Re-baseline any spend-down or asset-protection plan keyed to last year’s numbers. The estate-recovery reach under M.C.A. 53-6-167 into joint tenancy, life estates, and living trusts is exactly what the planning is built to anticipate, so confirm the figures before you commit a client to a path.
Montana DPHHS · Medicaid Changes · DPHHS.MT.GOV
Decisions from the courts that bind a Montana practitioner — the Montana Supreme Court, the U.S. District Court for Montana, and the Ninth Circuit — read for what actually changes how you draft, advise, and plan. Trusts and estates broadly, not Medicaid alone: wills and capacity, undue influence, fiduciary duty, trust construction, and estate recovery. One read, the holding, and the official cite.
Across the Montana Supreme Court, the U.S. District Court for Montana, and the Ninth Circuit, no qualifying trusts-and-estates or estate-recovery decision surfaced for this period that the lane could verify against an official reporter. Per the lane’s no-invent rule, this row says so plainly rather than inflating a holding.
Nothing to re-paper from the bench this period; controlling authority is unchanged.
Awaiting verified weekly signal — CourtListener used for discovery only, never cited as authority.
No qualifying Montana Supreme Court, U.S. District Court, or Ninth Circuit trusts-and-estates or estate-recovery decision was verified against an official reporter during the trailing window. (The Scheidecker v. DPHHS irrevocable-trust decision is real but dates to roughly 2021–2022, so it is not a current development and is excluded.)
There is nothing new from the bench to re-paper into your forms or advice this period; rely on existing controlling authority until the next verified decision lands.
Official Montana reporters · courts.mt.gov — CourtListener used for discovery only, never cited as authority.
This week in Montana for the T&E solo with Montana Medicaid clients: the developments from the State Bar of Montana and the Montana DPHHS (Medicaid) that actually moved your practice this period — each one primary-source verified.
Bar and Medicaid changes land on different schedules and aren’t indexed by practice focus. Every item here was checked against its primary source, with the link, so you can verify before relying on it.