Bradley Haler died intestate in November 2021, survived by his wife Rebecca and his son from a prior marriage, Jason. Under Montana’s intestacy statute, Rebecca was entitled to the first $150,000 plus one-half of the remaining balance of the intestate estate. About a month before his death, Bradley withdrew $80,000 from his savings account and purchased a cashier’s check payable to himself. During discovery, Rebecca denied any knowledge of this withdrawal. Rebecca later reported that the bank told her Bradley had purchased the cashier’s check but did not cash it, and because she was an authorized signor on the account the bank could release the funds to her. Rebecca argued that the funds would not be considered property of Bradley’s estate because the cashier’s check was issued before Bradley died. The district court held an evidentiary hearing in December 2024 regarding, among other issues, whether the $80,000 cashier’s check was an asset of Bradley’s estate. The district court found the check was not an asset of Bradley’s estate because it constituted a lifetime gift to Rebecca and, alternatively, Bradley “constructively delivered” the check to Rebecca. As the holder of a negotiable instrument, she was entitled to enforce the instrument. Jason appealed. The Montana Supreme Court reversed the district court’s judgment. The check was payable to Bradley, not Rebecca. Bradley also did not give the check to Rebecca while he was alive. In addition, Rebecca was not a holder of the cashier’s check because it was not payable to her. For her to be a holder of the cashier’s check, it would need to be transferred to her and endorsed by Bradley.

MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF HALER, 2026 WL 1469256 (MONT. MAY 26, 2026)

This Montana case raises several legal issues that Mississippians would deal with in estate planning and probates:

• A valid gift requires the giver to have “donative intent” to make the gift and to make effective delivery of the gift to the recipient. Bradley kept the check until his death.
• A check issued by the accountholder payable to himself does not, by itself, indicate donative intent to give the funds to another. Bradley was required to indorse the check and give it to Rebecca to complete the gift.
• Since the check payable to Bradley were his funds until he would indorse it to someone else, he was still the owner of the funds represented by the bank check at his death.
• The probate process only operates on assets owned solely by the owner of those assets at his or her death. Assets like bank and retirement plan accounts that have been placed in joint ownership or which have beneficiaries named on them will not be subject to probate.

Call us at Courtney Elder Law Associates to help you develop an estate plan to take care of your loved ones while protecting your assets.