Mont. Code Ann. » TITLE 30. TRADE AND COMMERCE · CHAPTER 3. UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENTS · Part 1. Short Title, Form, and Interpretation
Montana Code Annotated

Mont. Code Ann. § 30-3-104 (2026)

Negotiable Instrument

✓ current as of May 2026
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  1. MCA Contents
  2. TITLE 30
  3. CHAPTER 3
  4. Part 1
  5. 30-3-104 Negotiable instrument

TITLE 30. TRADE AND COMMERCE

CHAPTER 3. UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENTS

Part 1. Short Title, Form, and Interpretation

Negotiable Instrument

30-3-104. Negotiable instrument. (1) "Negotiable instrument" means an unconditional promise or order to pay a fixed amount of money, with or without interest or other charges described in the promise or order, if it:

(a) is payable to bearer or to order at the time it is issued or first comes into possession of a holder;

(b) is payable on demand or at a definite time; and

(c) does not state any other undertaking or instruction by the person promising or ordering payment to do any act in addition to the payment of money except that the promise or order may contain:

(i) an undertaking or power to give, maintain, or protect collateral to secure payment;

(ii) an authorization or power to the holder to confess judgment or realize on or dispose of collateral;

(iii) a waiver of the benefit of any law intended for the advantage or protection of any obligor;

(iv) a term that specifies the law that governs the promise or order; or

(v) an undertaking to resolve in a specified forum a dispute concerning the promise or order.

(2) "Instrument" means a negotiable instrument.

(3) An order that meets all of the requirements of subsection (1) except subsection (1)(a) and otherwise falls within the definition of "check" in subsection (6) is a negotiable instrument and a check.

(4) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1), a promise or order other than a check is not an instrument if, at the time it is issued or first comes into possession of a holder, it contains a conspicuous statement, however expressed, indicating that the writing is not an instrument governed by this chapter.

(5) An instrument is a "note" if it is a promise and is a "draft" if it is an order. If an instrument falls within the definition of both note and draft, the person entitled to enforce the instrument may treat it as either.

(6) (a) "Check" means:

(i) a draft, other than a documentary draft, payable on demand and drawn on a bank; or

(ii) a cashier's check or teller's check.

(b) An instrument may be a check even though it is described on its face by another term, such as "money order".

(7) "Cashier's check" means a draft with respect to which the drawer and drawee are the same bank or branches of the same bank.

(8) "Teller's check" means a draft drawn by a bank:

(a) on another bank; or

(b) payable at or through a bank.

(9) "Traveler's check" means an instrument that:

(a) is payable on demand;

(b) is drawn on or payable at or through a bank;

(c) is designated by the term traveler's check or by a substantially similar term; and

(d) requires, as a condition to payment, a countersignature by a person whose specimen signature appears on the instrument.

(10) "Certificate of deposit" means an instrument containing an acknowledgment by a bank that a sum of money has been received by the bank and a promise by the bank to repay the sum of money. A certificate of deposit is a note of the bank.

History: En. Sec. 3-104, Ch. 264, L. 1963; R.C.M. 1947, 87A-3-104; amd. Sec. 90, Ch. 410, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 22, Ch. 200, L. 2025.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 11 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1987–2026 · leading case: State v. McWilliams, 2008 MT 59 (Mont. 2008).
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State v. McWilliams, 2008 MT 59 (Mont. 2008). · cites it 8× “¶24 In addition, McWilliams relies on § 30-3-104, MCA, the statute defining negotiable instruments, to conclude that in order for an instrument to meet the definition of a "check" under Montana law, it must be payable on demand.”
Est. of Pruyn v. Axmen Propane, Inc., 2009 MT 448 (Mont. 2009). · cites it 6× “Section 30-3-104, MCA. Under the UCC, a person or entity "is not liable on an instrument unless: (a) the person signed the instrument; or (b) the person is represented by an agent or representative who signed the instrument and the signature is binding on the represented person…”
Am. Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass'n v. Madison Valley Props. Inc., 1998 MT 93 (Mont. 1998). · cites it 5× “Section 30-3-104(1) and (6), MCA. A cashier’s check is a draft with respect to which the drawer and drawee are the same bank or branches of the same bank.”
Empire Off. MacHines, Inc. v. Aspen Trails Assocs. LLC, 2014 MT 94 (Mont. 2014). · cites it 2× “As Demaray points out, however, § 30-3-403(2), MCA, applies to “negotiable instruments” as defined in § 30-3-104(1), MCA, and not to a contract for lease of this nature.”
Accounts Mgmt. Corp. v. Lyman Ranch, 748 P.2d 919 (Mont. 1987). · cites it 3× “The bottom half of the “CHECK-NOTE” containing Lyman’s unconditional promise to pay a sum certain at a definite time constitutes an instrument under Section 30-3-104, MCA, and the fact that the inventory of the debt is attached above the promise does not affect the nature of the…”
Smith v. Farmers Union Mut. Ins., 2011 MT 216 (Mont. 2011). “” Sections 30-3-104 and -105, MCA. “Money orders contain an unconditional promise or order to pay.”
State v. McNeil, 1998 MT 232N (Mont. 1998). · cites it 13× “¶ McNeil contends that the document he mailed to Judge Olson does not constitute a "check" or "other order" within the meaning of § 45-6-316 and § 30-3-104, MCA, for three reasons. First, he argues that the document was not "drawn on a bank" as required by the definition of…”
Est. of B. Haler, 2026 MT 111 (Mont. 2026). · cites it 4× “Section 30-3-104(1), (6)(a)(ii), (7), MCA.”
State v. Taylor, 745 P.2d 337 (Mont. 1987). · cites it 7× “Section 30-3-104, MCA. An instrument which complies with the requirements of Section 30-3-104 is a check, if it is a draft drawn on a bank and payable on demand.”
Leilani Hope Rickert (Bankr. D. Mont. 2019). · cites it 2× “Mont. Code Ann. § 30-3-104 (1) and (2) (defining a negotiable instrument), In re Tipton, 2013 WL 141141 , *2 (D.”
Fennessy v. Knight, 2021 MT 95N (Mont. 2021). “8 6 See § 30-3-104(1)-(2), MCA. 7 See § 30-3-122(7), MCA.”
— Mont. Code Ann. § 30-3-104(1) — 5 cases
Empire Off. MacHines, Inc. v. Aspen Trails Assocs. LLC, 2014 MT 94 (Mont. 2014). “As Demaray points out, however, § 30-3-403(2), MCA, applies to “negotiable instruments” as defined in § 30-3-104(1), MCA, and not to a contract for lease of this nature.”
Am. Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass'n v. Madison Valley Props. Inc., 1998 MT 93 (Mont. 1998). “Section 30-3-104(1) and (6), MCA. A cashier’s check is a draft with respect to which the drawer and drawee are the same bank or branches of the same bank.”
Est. of B. Haler, 2026 MT 111 (Mont. 2026). “Section 30-3-104(1), (6)(a)(ii), (7), MCA.”
State v. McNeil, 1998 MT 232N (Mont. 1998). “¶ McNeil contends that the document he mailed to Judge Olson does not constitute a "check" or "other order" within the meaning of § 45-6-316 and § 30-3-104, MCA, for three reasons. First, he argues that the document was not "drawn on a bank" as required by the definition of…”
Fennessy v. Knight, 2021 MT 95N (Mont. 2021). “8 6 See § 30-3-104(1)-(2), MCA. 7 See § 30-3-122(7), MCA.”
— Mont. Code Ann. § 30-3-104(2)(a)(b) — 1 case
State v. Taylor, 745 P.2d 337 (Mont. 1987). “Section 30-3-104, MCA. An instrument which complies with the requirements of Section 30-3-104 is a check, if it is a draft drawn on a bank and payable on demand.”
— Mont. Code Ann. § 30-3-104(3) — 1 case
State v. McNeil, 1998 MT 232N (Mont. 1998). “¶ McNeil contends that the document he mailed to Judge Olson does not constitute a "check" or "other order" within the meaning of § 45-6-316 and § 30-3-104, MCA, for three reasons. First, he argues that the document was not "drawn on a bank" as required by the definition of…”
— Mont. Code Ann. § 30-3-104(6) — 1 case
State v. McNeil, 1998 MT 232N (Mont. 1998). “¶ McNeil contends that the document he mailed to Judge Olson does not constitute a "check" or "other order" within the meaning of § 45-6-316 and § 30-3-104, MCA, for three reasons. First, he argues that the document was not "drawn on a bank" as required by the definition of…”
— Mont. Code Ann. § 30-3-104(7) — 2 cases
Am. Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass'n v. Madison Valley Props. Inc., 1998 MT 93 (Mont. 1998). “Section 30-3-104(1) and (6), MCA. A cashier’s check is a draft with respect to which the drawer and drawee are the same bank or branches of the same bank.”
Est. of B. Haler, 2026 MT 111 (Mont. 2026). “Section 30-3-104(1), (6)(a)(ii), (7), MCA.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.