Montana Code 72-14-103. Duty of attorney general — employment of special assistant
72-14-103. Duty of attorney general — employment of special assistant. (1) The attorney general of the state of Montana shall be the legal adviser in connection with all escheated property matters, and it is the duty of the attorney general to institute investigations and conduct inquiries for the discovery of all real and personal property which may have escheated or should escheat to the state and for that purpose has the power to cite any and all persons before any of the district courts of this state to answer investigations and render accounts concerning said property, real or personal, and to examine all books and papers of any and all corporations. When any real or personal property is discovered which should escheat to the state, the attorney general must institute suit in the district court of the county where said property shall be situated for the recovery and to escheat the same to the state and shall take all steps necessary to secure such escheat. The proceedings in all such actions shall be those provided for in parts 1 through 3 of this chapter.
Terms Used In Montana Code 72-14-103
- Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
- Escheat: Reversion of real or personal property to the state when 1) a person dies without leaving a will and has no heirs, or 2) when the property (such as a bank account) has been inactive for a certain period of time. Source: OCC
- Personal property: All property that is not real property.
- Personal property: means money, goods, chattels, things in action, and evidences of debt. See Montana Code 1-1-205
- Property: means real and personal property. 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 this purpose the attorney general is authorized and empowered to employ a special assistant and incur necessary expenses subject to appropriation limitations.