Montana Surrogate Decision Maker Lookup

Who can make medical and money decisions for an adult in Montana who cannot decide: an agent, a guardian, or Montana's default surrogate order. Runs in your browser; nothing is stored.

Montana law checked against official sources on October 26, 2026.

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What needs deciding?
Can the person understand this decision and make it, with help if needed?
Which of these exist? (tick all that apply)

Who has authority in Montana

  1. With no agent and no guardian, this state's default surrogate law lets a family member or other listed person make health-care decisions, in the order below.
  2. If nobody is available or the family disagrees, a court can appoint a guardian. That is slower and costs more than documents signed in advance.

Montana's default surrogate order

  1. A guardian with medical decisionmaking authority, appointed as the statute describes under 72-5-316
  2. An agent named in a medical durable power of attorney, or a person the patient named in an advance medical directive
  3. Spouse
  4. An adult child
  5. A parent
  6. A sibling
  7. A trusted decisionmaker the patient named under 50-5-1310
  8. A close friend who has a deep understanding of the patient's wishes
  9. Any other proxy appointed under Title 50, chapter 5, part 13
What it covers
Lets a proxy make medical treatment decisions for an adult patient whose attending health care provider has found that the patient lacks decisional capacity. The law sits in Montana's hospitals chapter: a trusted decisionmaker can be named only after hospital admission, and the last-resort physician or nurse proxy needs consensus with a facility ethics committee or chaplain.
If more than one person is in the same group
The statute sets no majority vote. When interested persons choose a lay proxy among themselves, they should consider who has a close relationship with the patient and who is most likely to know the patient's current wishes about treatment.
If nobody on the list is available
If no one with authority can be found or is willing to serve, the attending provider may designate a willing physician or advanced practice registered nurse as medical proxy, but only after a second provider confirms the lack of capacity and the provider reaches consensus with a medical ethics committee (or, without one, another facility's committee or the facility chaplain).
Who decides the person cannot decide
The attending health care provider decides that the adult lacks decisional capacity about medical treatment, records that decision in the medical record, and records findings on its cause, nature and expected duration.
Limits
  • Interested persons (spouse, parent, adult child, sibling or grandchild, or close friend) who learn of the incapacity must make reasonable efforts to agree on who among them will decide. This does not apply when the patient has named a trusted decisionmaker under 50-5-1310 who is willing and able to serve.
  • If no proxy has been appointed and the patient needs end-of-life treatment that includes artificial nutrition and hydration, the provider or facility must first ask a court to appoint a temporary guardian; a proxy may be appointed only if that petition is not timely or successful.
  • After admission to a hospital, and before being found to lack capacity, a patient may name a trusted decisionmaker.
  • While a trusted decisionmaker is named, the provider may not seek another lay or medical proxy unless reasonable efforts to contact the trusted decisionmaker fail.
  • A trusted decisionmaker serves until the patient completes an advance directive or medical durable power of attorney, names another trusted decisionmaker, or is discharged from the hospital.
  • An interested person may start a guardianship case at any time.

Source: Mont. Code Ann. 50-5-1311 (part of 50-5-1301 to 50-5-1311) · Checked October 26, 2026

Narrower laws in this state

  • Mont. Code Ann. 50-9-106: A separate, older list for consent to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment from a person in a terminal condition who has no effective declaration, in this order: spouse, adult child (majority if more than one), parents, adult sibling (majority if more than one), nearest other adult relative by blood or adoption.

Next steps

Who decides in Montana without a power of attorney?

Montana's default surrogate law (Mont. Code Ann. 50-5-1311 (part of 50-5-1301 to 50-5-1311)) covers health-care decisions generally. Without a health-care agent or guardian, the first person in line under the statute is: Spouse.

Montana's default surrogate law in full

Montana's default surrogate order

  1. A guardian with medical decisionmaking authority, appointed as the statute describes under 72-5-316
  2. An agent named in a medical durable power of attorney, or a person the patient named in an advance medical directive
  3. Spouse
  4. An adult child
  5. A parent
  6. A sibling
  7. A trusted decisionmaker the patient named under 50-5-1310
  8. A close friend who has a deep understanding of the patient's wishes
  9. Any other proxy appointed under Title 50, chapter 5, part 13
What it covers
Lets a proxy make medical treatment decisions for an adult patient whose attending health care provider has found that the patient lacks decisional capacity. The law sits in Montana's hospitals chapter: a trusted decisionmaker can be named only after hospital admission, and the last-resort physician or nurse proxy needs consensus with a facility ethics committee or chaplain.
If more than one person is in the same group
The statute sets no majority vote. When interested persons choose a lay proxy among themselves, they should consider who has a close relationship with the patient and who is most likely to know the patient's current wishes about treatment.
If nobody on the list is available
If no one with authority can be found or is willing to serve, the attending provider may designate a willing physician or advanced practice registered nurse as medical proxy, but only after a second provider confirms the lack of capacity and the provider reaches consensus with a medical ethics committee (or, without one, another facility's committee or the facility chaplain).
Who decides the person cannot decide
The attending health care provider decides that the adult lacks decisional capacity about medical treatment, records that decision in the medical record, and records findings on its cause, nature and expected duration.
Limits
  • Interested persons (spouse, parent, adult child, sibling or grandchild, or close friend) who learn of the incapacity must make reasonable efforts to agree on who among them will decide. This does not apply when the patient has named a trusted decisionmaker under 50-5-1310 who is willing and able to serve.
  • If no proxy has been appointed and the patient needs end-of-life treatment that includes artificial nutrition and hydration, the provider or facility must first ask a court to appoint a temporary guardian; a proxy may be appointed only if that petition is not timely or successful.
  • After admission to a hospital, and before being found to lack capacity, a patient may name a trusted decisionmaker.
  • While a trusted decisionmaker is named, the provider may not seek another lay or medical proxy unless reasonable efforts to contact the trusted decisionmaker fail.
  • A trusted decisionmaker serves until the patient completes an advance directive or medical durable power of attorney, names another trusted decisionmaker, or is discharged from the hospital.
  • An interested person may start a guardianship case at any time.

Source: Mont. Code Ann. 50-5-1311 (part of 50-5-1301 to 50-5-1311) · Checked October 26, 2026

Narrower laws in this state

  • Mont. Code Ann. 50-9-106: A separate, older list for consent to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment from a person in a terminal condition who has no effective declaration, in this order: spouse, adult child (majority if more than one), parents, adult sibling (majority if more than one), nearest other adult relative by blood or adoption.

How authority works when someone cannot decide

An adult who can understand a decision makes it, even when family disagrees. Authority passes to someone else only when the person cannot decide, and the source of that authority matters.

The strongest source is a document the person signed while able: a health-care power of attorney or advance directive naming an agent for medical decisions, and a durable power of attorney for money and property. A court appointment (a guardian, or in some states a conservator for money) comes next, and it is slower and more expensive.

For health-care decisions only, most states also have a default surrogate law, sometimes called a family consent law. It lists who may decide when there is no agent and no guardian, usually starting with a spouse, then adult children, then parents and siblings. Doctors and hospitals apply it at the bedside.

There is no "next of kin" list for money

Default surrogate laws cover health care, not bank accounts, bills or property. Being a spouse, child or next of kin does not by itself let you sign checks or sell a house for another adult. Without a durable power of attorney, managing someone else's money usually needs a court appointment.

Federal benefits follow their own rules. Social Security says a power of attorney, an authorized representative or a joint account is not the same as being a payee; SSA appoints a representative payee. VA appoints a fiduciary for a beneficiary who cannot manage VA benefits.

What this tool does not do

  • It reports what each state's statute says. It does not decide whether a person has capacity; the treating doctor does.
  • It does not decide disputes between family members or replace a court order. A guardianship order or a power of attorney can change who decides.
  • Hospitals, nursing homes and other states' laws can add steps. Ask the facility's patient-relations or legal office which law it applies.
  • It is general legal information, not legal advice for your situation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who makes medical decisions in Montana if there is no power of attorney?

Montana's default surrogate law (Mont. Code Ann. 50-5-1311 (part of 50-5-1301 to 50-5-1311)) covers health-care decisions generally. Without a health-care agent or guardian, the first person in line under the statute is: Spouse. The full order, tie rule and limits are in Mont. Code Ann. 50-5-1311 (part of 50-5-1301 to 50-5-1311).

Does next of kin in Montana have authority over money?

No default surrogate law covers money. In Montana, as everywhere, managing another adult's accounts or property takes a durable power of attorney or a court appointment.

Sources

Montana law checked against the official text on October 26, 2026.

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