Documents maintained by the Clerk and Recorders office include:
- Deeds
- Mortgages
- Liens
- UCC filings
- Powers of Attorney
- Homestead Declarations
- Subdivision Plats
- Certificates of Survey
- Birth Certificates
- Death Certificates
- Military Discharges
- Addressing
The Montana “Document Standards Bill” passed during the 2003 Legislative session has become law effective April 28, 2007. This law pertains to the recording of real estate documents and establishes standards for page, margin, and font size. It also addresses the legal description and return mailing information.
7-4-2636. (Effective April 28, 2007) Standards for recorded documents.
- (1) Unless accompanied by the appropriate fee required in 7-4-2637, a document submitted for recording that conveys an interest in real property must:
- (a) be legibly printed or typed in black ink in at least 10-point typeface, not including the signature, on white paper of not less than 20-pound weight, each page of which must be separated and have dimensions of either 8 1/2 x 11 inches or 8 1/2 x 14 inches;
- (b) provide the names of the parties to the conveyance on the first or second page of any document with more than one page;
- (c) provide a description of the property;
- (d) except as provided in subsection (1)(e) and except for page numbers or other designations, have margins that are clear of all markings in the following dimensions:
- (i) at least 3 inches at the top of the first page and at least 1 inch at the top of the second and any subsequent pages; and
- (ii) at least 1 inch on the sides and bottom of each page; and
- (e) include the name and mailing address of the person to whom the document is to be returned in the margin in the upper left-hand corner of the first page of each document submitted and may include legibly printed or typed transactional information.
- (2) Unless accompanied by the fee required in 7-4-2637, all other documents submitted for recording must meet the requirements of subsections (1)(a), (1)(d), and (1)(e).
- (3) (a) Except as provided in subsection (3)(b), only documents submitted for recording and filing that conform to the provisions of subsection (1) or (2) are considered standard documents for the purposes of 7-4-2637.
- (b) Documents that are acknowledged as having been executed prior to April 28, 2007, must be accepted for recording and considered standard documents, regardless of whether they conform to the provisions of subsection (1) or (2).