Updated September 7, 2026. Quick answer: Montana’s current statute sets a $70.00 clerk fee to file for probate; the official statewide court fee schedule lists a bundled total of $100.00.
If a trust could save your estate this fee in Montana
A living trust avoids probate entirely in Montana, which means the estate skips the $70.00 above along with every other cost the court charges once a case is open. LawDepot builds a state-specific one.
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What Montana charges to open probate
This is a flat fee in Montana: $70.00 is what it costs whether the estate is worth $40,000 or $4,000,000.
| Statutory clerk fee to file for probate | $70.00 |
| Official statewide fee-schedule total (bundled surcharges) | $100.00 |
| Difference (bundled surcharges) | $30.00 |
The $70/$100 gap between the statute text and the official fee-schedule PDF is disclosed rather than silently resolved; the schedule likely bundles additional statutorily-authorized surcharges.
Where this money goes and who sets it
The authority for this figure is Mont. Code Ann. § 25-1-201(1)(m). In the source’s own words: “on the filing of an application for informal, formal, or supervised probate … from the applicant or petitioner, $70, which includes the fee for filing a will for probate”
What this fee doesn’t cover
Because Montana’s fee is flat, it doesn’t rise as the estate grows, but it also doesn’t shrink for a small, simple estate the way a percentage-based state’s fee would. Either way, this is the court’s own charge just to open the file and issue letters, separate from what an attorney charges to actually handle the estate and separate from any state estate or inheritance tax the estate itself might owe.
Sources
Source: Mont. Code Ann. § 25-1-201(1)(m).