72-3-603. Notice of appointment to heirs and devisees. - Montana Statutes

     72-3-603. Notice of appointment to heirs and devisees. (1) Not later than 30 days after appointment, every personal representative, except any special administrator, shall give information of the appointment to the heirs and devisees, including, if there has been no formal testacy proceeding and if the personal representative was appointed on the assumption that the decedent died intestate, the devisees in any will mentioned in the application for appointment of a personal representative. The information must be delivered or sent by ordinary mail to each of the heirs and devisees whose address is reasonably available to the personal representative. The duty does not extend to require information to persons who have been adjudicated in a prior formal testacy proceeding to have no interest in the estate.
     (2) (a) The information must:
     (i) include the name and address of the personal representative;
     (ii) indicate that it is being sent to persons who have or may have some interest in the estate being administered;
     (iii) indicate whether bond has been filed; and
     (iv) describe the court where papers relating to the estate are on file.
     (b) The information must state that the estate is being administered by the personal representative under the uniform probate code without supervision by the court but that recipients are entitled to information regarding the administration from the personal representative and may petition the court in any matter relating to the estate, including distribution of assets and expenses of administration.
     (3) The personal representative's failure to give this information is a breach of the personal representative's duty to the persons concerned but does not affect the validity of the personal representative's appointment, powers, or other duties.
     (4) A personal representative may inform other persons of the appointment by delivery or ordinary first-class mail.

     History: En. 91A-3-705 by Sec. 1, Ch. 365, L. 1974; R.C.M. 1947, 91A-3-705; amd. Sec. 11, Ch. 582, L. 1989; amd. Sec. 2349, Ch. 56, L. 2009.