MONTANA BAR EXAM DISTINCTIONS — ONE-PAGE CHEAT SHEET
Condensed companion to the Montana Bar Exam Distinctions long outline.
1. EXAM FORMAT
UBE state · MBE/MEE/MPT weighted 50/30/20 · minimum passing score 270—one of the higher UBE thresholds, so a score that passes in a 260 state may not clear Montana · score transferable to/from other UBE jurisdictions within the window · plus MPRE + character/fitness · no separate state-law essay blended into the result · essays graded on national majority law.
2. CIVIL PROCEDURE
Tort/personal-injury SOL 3 years (§27-2-204) · written-contract SOL 8 years (§27-2-202) · oral contract 5 years · defamation 2 years · Montana Rules of Civil Procedure track the restyled Federal Rules · district courts are courts of general jurisdiction · long-arm (Rule 4) over nonresidents transacting business, committing torts, or owning property in-state, to due-process limits.
3. EVIDENCE
Own Montana Rules of Evidence, patterned on the FRE and largely parallel · Daubert limited mainly to novel scientific evidence, with a more flexible foundation standard for other experts under Montana Rule 702—brief under Montana precedent, not the full federal framework · statutory physician-patient privilege with no FRE analog; spousal, clergy, attorney-client also recognized.
4. FAMILY LAW
UMDA adopted—dissolution on irretrievable breakdown, fault not a ground · common-law marriage RECOGNIZED (consent + holding out as married + cohabitation), unlike most states—analyze before assuming parties are unmarried · equitable distribution (not community property); court may apportion regardless of title and consider property brought into the marriage · maintenance on UMDA need/ability factors · Montana child-support guidelines.
5. WILLS / TRUSTS / ESTATES
UPC state (Title 72) · attested will = signature + 2 witnesses (§72-2-522) · holographic wills VALID if the signature and material portions are in the testator's handwriting (§72-2-522(2)) · harmless-error/dispensing power—a document failing formalities may still be probated on clear-and-convincing proof of testamentary intent · sliding-scale augmented-estate elective share rising with marriage length (up to roughly one-half) · UPC intestacy (spouse takes all if all descendants are also the spouse's; else base + fraction, balance per capita at each generation) · declared homestead exemption + UPC homestead/exempt/family allowances.
6. REAL PROPERTY
Race-notice recording act (§70-21-304)—later good-faith purchaser must take without notice AND record first · adverse possession 5 years PLUS payment of property taxes for the period (§70-19-411)—a claimant who never paid the taxes cannot prevail · two-track foreclosure: trust-indenture trustee's sale (nonjudicial, no redemption) under the Small Tract Financing Act for qualifying parcels, vs. judicial mortgage foreclosure (with a statutory redemption period) for other property.
7. TORTS
Modified comparative negligence — 51% bar (§27-1-702): plaintiff recovers only if fault is NOT GREATER than the defendants' combined