Montana Homestead Declaration: Declaration of Homestead PDF

The Homestead Declaration, printed on the form as Declaration of Homestead, is a Montana Judicial Branch form in which one or more claimants declare that they reside on described property and claim it as their homestead, exempt from attachment or forced sale.

The form cites Title 70, Chapter 32, Montana Code Annotated (MCA) as the basis for the exemption. The claim covers the property described in the form together with the dwelling house, or mobile home, and the improvements and appurtenances on it.

The core of the document is the legal description of the property. The form states that a street address is not a legal description, and neither is a deed reference. It requires the full metes and bounds description, or the subdivision with its lot number, or the certificate of survey number.

The declaration is signed by the claimant or claimants, who date it in the line that reads "this ___ day of _, 20". A notary block follows, which the notary completes: the date of signing, the names of the signers, the notary's signature and printed name, the place the notary resides and the date the commission expires. A "Return Document to" block at the top holds a name and mailing address.

The Montana Judicial Branch lists the form on its real estate forms page, next to links to MCA Titles 70 and 71 and to an MSU Extension article titled "Using a Homestead Declaration to Protect Your Home from Creditors".

The form is for people who reside on a property in Montana and want to claim it as their homestead. The form calls them the claimant(s). It has room for two claimants, who are named in the opening sentence and each sign on their own signature line, so people who claim the home together complete one declaration.

A claimant states on the form that they reside on the property and claim it as their homestead. What the claim covers is defined in the form itself: the described land together with the dwelling house, or mobile home, and the improvements and appurtenances on it.

The signing must be acknowledged by a notary public. The notary block on the form is for a Notary Public for the State of Montana and states that the instrument was signed before the notary.

The form does not set out who qualifies under Title 70, Chapter 32, MCA, or any exclusions. Read that chapter, or the MSU Extension article that the Montana Judicial Branch links on its real estate forms page, to check whether your situation fits.

The form prints no deadline. You complete it when you decide to claim the property where you reside as your homestead: the claimants sign and date it, and the notary completes the acknowledgment on the date the instrument is signed before the notary. Have the legal description of the property in hand before you start, because the form cannot be completed without it. For timing questions under Title 70, Chapter 32, MCA, refer to the statute.

The form names no filing office, portal or fee. The only routing information printed on it is the Return Document to block at the top, where you enter a name, a mailing address, city, state and ZIP code for the return of the document.

Before the declaration goes anywhere, the claimant or claimants must sign it and the notary must complete the acknowledgment at the bottom. FillingPDF lets you fill out and download the PDF; submission follows the channels the agency or the statute provides, which you can check through the Montana Judicial Branch real estate forms page at https://courts.mt.gov/forms/realestate.