Montana Code 60-4-209. Abandoned highway property — title vests in contiguous owner
60-4-209. Abandoned highway property — title vests in contiguous owner. (1) Except as provided in 60-4-213 through 60-4-218, upon abandonment by the state in the manner provided in subsection (2) of an interest in real property acquired for the purpose of establishment of a highway, the owner of contiguous real property or the owner’s successor in interest is vested with the abandoned interest to the extent provided in subsection (3).
Terms Used In Montana Code 60-4-209
- Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Property: means real and personal property. See Montana Code 1-1-205
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
- Real property: means lands, tenements, hereditaments, and possessory title to public lands. See Montana Code 1-1-205
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
(2)For the purposes of this section:
(a)a fee simple interest may be abandoned only by the proper order of the commission; and
(b)an interest of less than fee simple may be abandoned in the manner provided in subsection (2)(a), by operation of law, and by judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction.
(3)Except as provided in 60-4-213 through 60-4-218, the interest acquired by the contiguous property owner under subsection (1) is the abandoned interest or portion of the interest:
(a)if there are different contiguous property owners on each side of the abandoned interest, bounded on one side by the contiguous property and on the remaining two opposite sides by lines following the shortest distance from the extreme ends of the contiguous property abutting upon the abandoned interest to the center of the abandoned interest; and
(b)if the owners of the contiguous property on each side of the abandoned interest are the same, bounded on two opposite sides by the contiguous properties and on the two remaining opposite sides by lines following the shortest distance from the extreme ends of the contiguous property on one side of the abandoned interest to the extreme ends of the contiguous property on the other side of the abandoned interest.
(4)For the purpose of this section, an interest in property abandoned by a proper order of the commission includes an interest in property that the commission determines to be unnecessary to the laying out, altering, construction, improvement, or maintenance of a highway, whether or not the commission determines to sell the interest.
(5)Except as provided in 60-4-213 through 60-4-218, the interest acquired by a contiguous property owner under subsection (3) is conditioned upon the use of the property for agricultural or noncommercial purposes. If the property is used for commercial purposes or for purposes of future subdivision or other similar development, the property must revert to the state for sale pursuant to this part. This restriction applies to all subsequent holders of title to the property.