UNAPPROVED DRAFT BILL -- Subject to Change Without Notice!
BILL NO.
INTRODUCED BY
(Primary Sponsor)
A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: "AN ACT AUTHORIZING SERVICE BY PUBLICATION ON UNKNOWN CLAIMANTS IN QUIET TITLE ACTIONS UPON FILING OF AN AFFIDAVIT WITHOUT PRIOR RETURN OF SERVICE; AND AMENDING SECTION 70-28-105, MCA."
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
Section 1. Section 70-28-105, MCA, is amended to read:
"70-28-105. Maintenance of action when no known claimants -- notice by publication. (1) If in any case there are
no known claimants or possible claimants to any of the property involved in any action contemplated by 70-28-101 through
70-28-109, the action may nevertheless be maintained against all persons unknown claiming or who might claim any right,
title, estate, or interest in or lien or encumbrance upon the real property described in the complaint or any part thereof of the
property adverse to the plaintiff's ownership or any cloud upon the plaintiff's title thereto, whether such the claim or possible
claim be is present or contingent, including any claim or possible claim of dower, inchoate or accrued, and such. The action
may be prosecuted to judgment in the same manner and with like the same effect as though there had been known claimants
or possible claimants; and in any such case, the . The complaint, the affidavit for service by publication as provided in
subsection (2), the order for service by publication, and the decree shall must state the facts, and the summons shall must be
directed to such the unknown persons.
(2) (a) The court shall issue an order for the service of summons by publication upon the filing by the plaintiff of an affidavit stating that:
(i) the defendant is an unknown claimant;
(ii) that the affiant has made diligent search and inquiry for all persons who claim or might claim any right, title, estate, or interest in or lien or encumbrance upon the property or any part of the property adverse to the plaintiff's ownership or any cloud upon the plaintiff's title to the property, whether the claim or possible claim is present or contingent, including any right of dower, inchoate or accrued; and
(iii) that the affiant has specifically named as defendants in the action all persons whose names can be ascertained.
(b) The affidavit must be sufficient evidence of the diligence of any inquiry made by the affiant if it recites the fact that diligent inquiry was made, and it need not detail the facts constituting the inquiry.
(3) For purposes of quieting title under this section, service of the summons by publication must be authorized without the requirement of a filing of a return of the summons showing the failure to find any unknown defendant designated in the complaint."
- END -
Latest Version of LC 957 (LC0957.01)
Processed for the Web on January 19, 1999 (3:46PM)
New language in a bill appears underlined, deleted material appears stricken.
Sponsor names are handwritten on introduced bills, hence do not appear on the bill until it is reprinted. See the status of this bill for the bill's primary sponsor.
Status of this Bill
| 1999 Session | Leg. Branch HomePrepared by Montana Legislative Services
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