{"data":{"id":"us-mt/72-38-402","jurisdiction":"us-mt","citation":"72-38-402","heading":"Requirements for creation.","body":"(1) A trust is created only if:\n(a) the settlor has capacity to create a trust;\n(b) the settlor indicates an intention to create the trust;\n(c) the trust has a definite beneficiary or is:\n(i) a charitable trust;\n(ii) a trust for the care of an animal, as provided in 72-38-408; or\n(iii) a trust for a noncharitable purpose, as provided in 72-38-409;\n(d) the trustee has duties to perform; and\n(e) the same person is not the sole trustee and sole beneficiary.\n(2) A beneficiary is definite if the beneficiary can be ascertained now or in the future, subject to any applicable rule against perpetuities.\n(3) A power in a trustee to select a beneficiary from an indefinite class is valid. If the power is not exercised within a reasonable time, the power fails and the property subject to the power passes to the persons who would have taken the property had the power not been conferred.\n(4) A conservation easement created or conveyed under Title 76, chapter 6, does not create a charitable trust unless the settlor expresses a clear intention in the conservation easement instrument to create or convey the conservation easement as a charitable trust.","path":["TITLE 72. ESTATES, TRUSTS, AND FIDUCIARY RELATIONSHIPS","CHAPTER 38. MONTANA UNIFORM TRUST CODE","Part 4. Creation, Validity, Modification, and Termination of Trust"],"source_url":"https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0720/chapter_0380/part_0040/section_0020/0720-0380-0040-0020.html","current_through":"Montana Code Annotated 2025","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T04:59:33Z","sha256":"6879b35a6a1f6094f4decb85f48d192e7fd9b82983417cb04d0feb68d2de8232","source_id":"us-mt","stale":false,"prev":"us-mt/72-38-401","next":"us-mt/72-38-403"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}