Montana Estate Lawyers, P.C.

Montana Estate Lawyers, P.C. We help individuals and families plan for life, deal with death, wealth preservation, wealth management and asset protection.

Our estate planning process, the Peace of Mind Advantage, is designed to allow us to work with you and your other advisors in an organized and efficient manner to help you implement planning that is uniquely suited for you and your family. Our firm focuses on Estate Planning, Business Succession Planning, Business Exit Planning, Elder Law, Asset Protection, Special Needs Planning, Estate and Trust

Administration, Probates,and Business and Entity Formation. Our law firm, attorneys and lawyers handle matters throughout Montana (MT), including Billings, Bozeman, Great Falls, Havre, Helena, Kalispell, Lewistown, Livingston, Missoula, Shelby and Whitefish.

A very common misconception is only wealthy families and people in high-risk professions need asset protection planning....
04/16/2026

A very common misconception is only wealthy families and people in high-risk professions need asset protection planning. But in reality, anyone can be sued and lose all of his or her assets.

A car accident, foreclosure, job loss, medical crisis, business failure, or an injured tenant can result in a huge monetary judgment, decimating your finances.

What exactly is asset protection planning? It is the process of taking property currently vulnerable to seizure by creditors, predators, and lawsuits and positioning it in a way to discourage lawsuits, provide a valuable bargaining chip if a lawsuit arises, and minimize loss.

For example, one type of basic planning is 401(k) or IRA investment. Under federal law, 401(k)s and IRAs (excluding inherited IRAs) are protected from creditors in bankruptcy (with certain limitations). If you want to assure retirement plans are protected when they pass to your loved ones, we can show you how to do that.

If you are a business owner, investor, landlord, work in a high-risk profession, or have accumulated or inherited a significant amount of property, we recommend you consider more advanced asset protection planning.

The use of advanced asset protection strategies requires the expertise of a legal advisor who understands all of the applicable laws and specializes in the implementation, and, just as important, the maintenance, of sophisticated asset protection plans.

To protect your assets, you must plan ahead. Asset protection planning cannot be done as a quick fix for your existing legal problems.

Your plan must be in place before a lawsuit arises. And, in some situations, a significant period of time must pass before the asset protection plan is effective (up to 10 years in some cases).

Almost everyone needs some form of asset protection in place.

Call (406) 727-2200 or visit montanaestatelawyer.com to schedule your consultation.

Are you concerned about any of your adult children? Estate planning can pose extra challenges for families with adult ch...
04/14/2026

Are you concerned about any of your adult children? Estate planning can pose extra challenges for families with adult children struggling with addiction, marital issues, or irresponsibility with money. The last thing you want is for your wealth to end up having a negative impact on your child, or to see them squander their inheritance.

This is often a hidden issue within estate planning conversations, as it’s a sensitive topic that can bring up painful memories or emotions. Some parents are apprehensive to discuss their troubled adult children with friends or colleagues because of its private nature and potential for judgment from those outside the family.

Estate planning offices like ours are safe spaces where we work diligently to craft the best possible plan for your family while taking your unique challenges into account. While these conversations may be difficult to have, they are crucial to ensuring that your wishes are carried out the way you want.

A lifetime trust can be a great solution to prevent an inheritance from making a troubled child’s situation worse. Lifetime trusts spread distributions over the course of your beneficiary’s entire life, significantly reducing the risk that they waste their entire inheritance on harmful substances, irresponsible spending, or contentious divorce proceedings. Lifetime trusts also keep your wealth out of the hands of the probate and divorce courts and ensure that the assets contained in the trust stay in the family even after a divorce.

Contact us today so we can make sure all your children get the most out of life and enjoy ongoing financial security for years to come. You can reach us at (406) 727-2200.

Is Your Estate Plan Keeping Up With Your Life?Life changes fast — your estate plan should too. At Montana Estate Lawyers...
04/09/2026

Is Your Estate Plan Keeping Up With Your Life?

Life changes fast — your estate plan should too.
At Montana Estate Lawyers, P.C., we believe an estate plan isn’t something you create once and forget. Just like the Montana skies evolve with every season, your plan should adapt to reflect the new chapters in your life — from growing families and shifting finances to changing laws that could affect your legacy.

If you signed your will or trust before 2016, chances are it no longer mirrors your current situation. Over the past decade, significant updates in state and federal laws have reshaped how estates are administered and taxed. What once worked perfectly may now leave gaps, expose your assets, or create unnecessary hurdles for your loved ones.

Even if your plan was thoughtfully designed, time alone can make it outdated. You might have welcomed new family members, lost loved ones, bought or sold property, or started a business — all major life events that deserve to be reflected in your documents.

And it’s not just about your own plan. Many clients come to us as beneficiaries, executors, or trustees of a parent’s or grandparent’s trust created decades ago. These older trusts can often be “remodeled” to better serve today’s needs. Modernizing them ensures they continue protecting your family without unnecessary restrictions or outdated terms.

Think you’re stuck with an irrevocable trust? Think again.

Our firm specializes in advanced strategies such as trust decanting — a legal process that allows assets to be “poured” into a new trust with updated terms, much like decanting wine to enhance its quality. This lets you preserve the essence of your loved one’s intent while creating flexibility for future generations.

Every client’s situation is unique, and that’s why we take the time to understand your story before recommending changes. Whether you need a simple update, a trust modification, or a complete overhaul, our goal is the same — to help your plan work for you today and safeguard your tomorrow.

Your life is constantly evolving — make sure your estate plan does too.

Call (406) 727-2200 or visit montanaestatelawyer.com to schedule your consultation.

Let’s create a plan as dynamic as your life and as enduring as the Montana Estate Lawyers P.C mountains.

At a time of record home unaffordability, more people are teaming up with friends and relatives to realize the home owne...
04/07/2026

At a time of record home unaffordability, more people are teaming up with friends and relatives to realize the home ownership dream. Purchasing a property with other people can help a buyer to lower their individual costs while building equity. However, going in on a house together can also create trouble spots, including survivorship and inheritance issues. When buying a home with another person, the co-owners must decide how to hold the title so that it aligns with their wealth-building and estate planning goals.

Co-Ownership and Home Titles:
Typically, co-owners are not only listed together on the mortgage loan, but on the home title. Having more than one person on the title raises estate planning issues that may not immediately arise but should be thought about.

Property can be titled in different ways. Common ways of joint ownership titling include tenants in common, joint tenants with right of survivorship, and tenants by the entirety.

• Tenants in common:
With this type of title, property shares may or may not be divided equally between owners. Each owner’s share might be equal to their investment in the property or the shares may be divided equally among the owners. However, the co-owners still have equal rights to use all areas of the property. They can also choose who receives their interest when they die; it does not automatically pass to the other owner(s).

• Joint tenants with right of survivorship:
Under this arrangement, each owner has an undivided interest in the property. They own the property in equal shares and have the right to use the property however they wish. The right of survivorship means that, when one of the joint owners dies, their property interest passes to the surviving joint owner(s).

• Tenancy by the entirety: This title option works the same way as joint tenants with Right of Survivorship but is only available to married couples in certain states. It also provides valuable creditor protection because property owned in this way is not subject to the creditors of just one spouse.

Joint Ownership and Estate Planning:
For most people, a home is their greatest investment and the primary driver of household wealth. Even if somebody co-owns a house, their investment in the property is likely to dwarf their other accounts and property. Deciding what to do with shares of a jointly owned property is a major estate planning consideration.

When co-buying a house, each owner should understand how it is being titled and make sure the titling matches their estate planning wishes. For example, joint tenancy might make sense for a married couple but be a poor choice for friends or unmarried partners because they give up the right to leave the property to anyone other than the co-owner.

Otherwise, their share of the property passes according to state law when they die.

For those who already own a house, how the property is titled is no less important to their estate plan. Circumstances change. The original title terms may no longer reflect person’s current priorities. While changing a joint tenancy may not always be possible or practical, at the very least, a person should know how a home title affects their property rights, the rights of any heirs, and tax obligations.

Choosing how to title a co-owned home, and how this choice fits into your estate plan, depends on the people and property involved, your estate planning goals, and state laws where the property is located. An estate planning attorney from our office can explain the pros, cons, and consequences of each type of joint ownership to help you decide which one best fits your situation.

Call us today at (406) 727-2200 for help getting your estate planning house in order.

Ideally, when someone passes away, the paperwork and material concerns associated with the deceased’s passing are so sea...
04/02/2026

Ideally, when someone passes away, the paperwork and material concerns associated with the deceased’s passing are so seamlessly handled (thanks to excellent preparation) that they fade into the background, allowing the family and other loved ones to grieve and remember the deceased in peace.

In fact, the whole business of estate planning—or at least a significant piece of it—is concerned with ease. How can money, property, and legacies be transferred to the next generation in a harmonious, stress-free, fair process? To that end, many people strive to avoid burdening their loved ones with the complications and costs involved with probate.

There are numerous tools of the trade that a qualified attorney can use to keep your money and property out of probate. However, setting up a revocable living trust is quite often the best, most comprehensive option for avoiding probate. Often touted as an alternative to a will, a trust is a legal structure that owns your accounts and property or is named as the beneficiary of certain accounts and property (like a retirement account) and is managed by a trusted decision maker, also known as a trustee, on your and your beneficiaries’ behalf.

A living trust is established while you are still alive, as opposed to being created upon your death. You can be the trustee for your own living trust until you are no longer able to manage your financial affairs or you pass away, at which point your chosen backup trustee, also known as a successor trustee, steps up and assumes the responsibility for managing the trust on your or your beneficiaries’ behalf.

The purpose of probate is to transfer property ownership for all accounts and property that are owned in your sole name and that do not have a beneficiary, pay-on- death, or transfer-on-death designation when you pass away. A trust can bypass this process completely because your accounts and property are either transferred to the trust while you are alive, or the trust is named as the beneficiary at your death. Therefore, when you die, there is nothing that needs to be transferred by the probate court (everything is already in your trust or was transferred to the trust automatically at your death).

Furthermore, a trust can cover virtually any type of account or property, from real estate to heirlooms to stock to bank accounts. When a trust is structured correctly with the help of an experienced estate planning attorney, your affairs can stay out of probate court entirely. This process not only limits court costs but also maintains the privacy of your financial records while enabling your beneficiaries to enjoy the benefits of the trust without disruption or delay.

The key to effective planning is to work with a highly qualified, trusted lawyer who genuinely cares about you and your loved ones and who knows how to forge the right strategy for all of you. Give us a call today to learn more about next steps for achieving the peace of mind you deserve. You can reach us at (406) 727-2200.

Coordinating your retirement and estate plans is something that is often overlooked when considering your family's futur...
03/31/2026

Coordinating your retirement and estate plans is something that is often overlooked when considering your family's future.

The first step is to make sure you have the assets you need to take care of yourself and your family. With the increased costs of healthcare, it is crucial you have what you need after you retire and can manage your medical expenses on a fixed income. While we would all hope for a quiet retirement, finances can be unexpectedly stressful.

In addition, the rules surrounding the taxation of retirement accounts can be difficult to understand, further complicating a potentially stressful retirement experience. Upon retiring, you will have to take a required minimum distribution, which will be subject to income tax.

Also keep in mind that when these funds are distributed to a designated beneficiary after the owner’s death, there are still income tax concerns regardless of who is named as the designated beneficiary.

Ultimately, you will benefit most from ensuring your retirement plan and estate plan align.

By working with your trusted financial advisor and us, you can ensure the goals you have for your retirement and for your estate do not contradict one another.

For example, you may have originally anticipated the excess funds from your retirement account being used to care for an aging loved one, but due to the market, you may need to find additional sources to cover these anticipated expenses.

When it comes to retirement, it can be difficult to know what you do not know. If you are concerned about the state of your retirement account, assets and estate plan, schedule a meeting with your financial advisor and us today. You can reach us at (406) 727-2200.

Estate Planning Isn’t Just for the Wealthy—Here’s Why You Need It Now“Think estate planning is only for the rich and fam...
03/26/2026

Estate Planning Isn’t Just for the Wealthy—Here’s Why You Need It Now

“Think estate planning is only for the rich and famous? Think again.”

When we see estate planning in the news, it usually involves a celebrity or business tycoon who left no will, made costly mistakes, or sparked a family feud. Those stories make headlines because of the money involved, but here’s the truth: estate planning isn’t just for millionaires.

It doesn’t matter if you have a large portfolio or modest savings—what matters is protecting your loved ones, your wishes, and your future.

Why Estate Planning Matters for Everyone
Estate planning goes far beyond dividing up assets. It’s about peace of mind. It ensures that if something happens to you—whether through illness, injury, or age,your voice will still be heard. Without proper documents, your family could end up in court, facing stressful, expensive, and very public battles about who makes decisions on your behalf.

Worse, state law not you decides who inherits your belongings if you pass away without a plan. That could mean cherished heirlooms, savings, or even your home landing in the wrong hands.

The Overlooked Side of Planning
Most people assume estate planning only applies after death. But here’s the part often overlooked: incapacity planning. If you become unable to manage your affairs, who steps in? Without clear instructions, your loved ones may be left guessing, or worse, fighting.

A solid estate plan spells it out. It says who makes medical choices, how your finances are handled, and what care you want. That’s not just paperwork, it’s protection, clarity, and love.

An Act of Love, Not Just Finance
Estate planning is more than a legal task. It’s a gift to your family. It prevents confusion, reduces conflict, and safeguards what you’ve worked hard for. It’s not about how much you own—it’s about ensuring the people who matter most are cared for and your wishes are respected.

Whether you’re starting a career, raising kids, or enjoying retirement, it’s never too early or too late to take action.

Take the First Step Today

Don’t wait for life’s “what ifs.” Protect your family now. We’re here to guide you through the process, explain your options in plain language, and help you create a plan that fits your unique life.

Call us today at (406) 727-2200 to schedule your confidential appointment.

Your peace of mind, and your family’s future, are worth it.

As a successful business owner, you’ve worked hard to get where you are. You know all about sweat equity and sleepless n...
03/24/2026

As a successful business owner, you’ve worked hard to get where you are. You know all about sweat equity and sleepless nights. So, doesn’t it make sense to want your business to continue after your participation in it ends through retirement, incapacity, or death? Your company may be able to survive and thrive even without you, but it needs help. That’s where the business succession plan comes in. We recommend the following 3 steps at a minimum.

1. Put together long-term plans for the business.
Don’t just work on plans for this year. Make plans that will keep your company humming for generations.

2. Identify future management.
Keep an eye on younger members of management. Groom them for future top management positions.

3. Prepare a buy-sell agreement.
This document lays out specifics on how a business

partner’s interests can be bought or sold. For example, if one partner retires, who is allowed to buy their partnership interest? Without a buy-sell, the retiring partner could sell to anyone. With a buy-sell in place, the other partners may have the means to buy that interests before it is offered to anyone else.

Buy-sells also cover other contingencies and are highly recommended.

We can analyze your current business succession plans or help you to put one in place. To schedule an appointment with one of our estate planning attorneys, contact us at (406) 727-2200.

What is a Health Care Directive?It’s a legal document that is commonly part of an estate plan. It can include instructio...
03/19/2026

What is a Health Care Directive?

It’s a legal document that is commonly part of an estate plan. It can include instructions from you to your future medical providers, but may also be called, or include, a health care power of attorney. It typically involves the appointment of a health care agent.

Who Should I Look for in an Agent?

You are not required to name any particular person as your agent, however they do need to be at least 18 years of age. Most married couples name each other as agent, along with a successor. However, that is not a requirement.

Your agent needs to be someone who will follow the wishes you have set out in your health care directive and act in your best interests at all times. And you need an agent who is willing to act on your behalf on an as-needed basis.

Some people are not eligible to serve as your agent unless they are related to you by blood, marriage, registered domestic partnership, or adoption. So, do not appoint health care providers caring for you on the day the health directive was signed or the date the agent needs to make decisions for you.

This restriction can be bypassed. You can include specific language in your health care directive allowing the people noted above to serve as agent.

Our team of legal experts can discuss your options while helping you develop a complete estate plan.

Contact us at (406) 727-2200.

Did you know that there are numerous types of trusts for estate planning? It would be impossible to cover every type of ...
03/17/2026

Did you know that there are numerous types of trusts for estate planning? It would be impossible to cover every type of trust in one post, but the important thing to know is that there are specific trusts for specific purposes.

Here are a few specific reasons why someone might want to create a trust

Escaping Probate: Revocable Living Trusts, if properly funded, will assist your estate from escaping probate proceedings entirely.

Reducing Taxes: For example, a grantor-retained annuity trust (GRAT) may allow the settlor give family members large gifts with little to no tax consequence. With a qualified personal residence trust (QPRT), some settlors can continue living in their homes while offering potential tax breaks to their heirs.

Protecting Assets: Irrevocable trusts, including domestic asset protection trusts, may allow settlors to protect assets from creditors. This type of trust can be helpful when settlors or their heirs are employed in professions at high risk for litigation.

Protecting Heirs: Spendthrift and discretionary trusts can help settlors protect beneficiaries from credits or financial recklessness. In addition, a qualified terminable interest property trust (QTIP) provides for a less-wealthy spouse while preserving an inheritance for the settlor’s children from other marriages. Special needs trusts do just what the name implies – offer support and assistance to someone with special needs.

Our experienced attorneys will be able to offer you several options for trusts that will suit your needs and help you reach your estate planning goals.

You can reach us at (406) 727-2200.

Address

8 3rd Street N, Ste 507
Great Falls, MT
59401

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