Montana summary judgment: 21 days to respond, and the hearing is waived unless you ask
Montana procedure · Last verified August 17, 2026
Montana's Rule 56 keeps the familiar structure, and its response clock — 21 days — is unremarkable. The provision worth putting in your calendar is Rule 56(c)(2)(A), which takes the hearing away from you if nobody asks for it in time. Parties who assume a dispositive motion will be argued are the ones this catches.
Either side may move, at any time
Rule 56(a) lets "[a] party claiming relief" move "with or without supporting affidavits, for summary judgment on all or part of the claim," and Rule 56(b) gives a defending party the same. There is no waiting period after the complaint is filed and no fixed cutoff before trial. Rule 56(c)(1)(A) says simply that "a party may move for summary judgment at any time."
That "at any time" is subject to the opening words of Rule 56(c)(1): "These times apply unless the court orders otherwise." A scheduling order routinely supplies the dispositive-motion deadline that the rule does not.
The clock, including the trap
Rule 56(c)(1) sets the two response times, and Rule 56(c)(2) sets the hearing rule:
(B) a party opposing the motion must file a response, and any opposing affidavits, within 21 days after the motion is served or a responsive pleading is due, whichever is later; and (C) the movant may file a reply within 14 days after the response is served.
(2) Hearing. (A) The right to a hearing is waived unless a party requests a hearing within 14 days after the time for filing a reply brief has expired. (B) The court may set a hearing on its own motion.
| Step | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Motion | any time, unless the court orders otherwise |
| Response | 21 days after the motion is served, or after a responsive pleading is due — whichever is later |
| Reply | 14 days after the response is served |
| Hearing request | 14 days after the reply deadline expires — or the right is waived |
Two things to notice.
The "whichever is later" clause protects an early-moving plaintiff's opponent. A summary-judgment motion served with or soon after the complaint does not shorten the defendant's time; the response is not due before the answer is.
The hearing deadline runs from a deadline, not from an event. It is 14 days after "the time for filing a reply brief has expired" — so it runs whether or not a reply was actually filed. Counting from the response date: 14 days for the reply, then 14 more to request argument. Miss it and the motion is decided on the papers unless the judge sets a hearing under Rule 56(c)(2)(B) on the court's own motion.
The standard
Rule 56(c)(3) states it in the pre-2010 federal form:
The judgment sought should be rendered if the pleadings, the discovery and disclosure materials on file, and any affidavits show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
Montana has not adopted the separate statement-of-undisputed-facts requirement that Wyoming carries in Rule 56.1 or that Maine puts in Rule 56(h). The record materials are cited in the briefs.
What an opposing party has to do
Rule 56(e)(2) is the burden-shifting provision, and it forecloses the response that simply re-states the pleading:
When a motion for summary judgment is properly made and supported, an opposing party may not rely merely on allegations or denials in its own pleading; rather, its response must — by affidavits or as otherwise provided in this rule — set out specific facts showing a genuine issue for trial. If the opposing party does not so respond, summary judgment should, if appropriate, be entered against that party.
The affidavits themselves are governed by Rule 56(e)(1). Each "must be made on personal knowledge, set out facts that would be admissible in evidence, and show that the affiant is competent to testify on the matters stated," and where a paper is referred to, "a sworn or certified copy must be attached to or served with the affidavit."
When you cannot answer yet
Rule 56(f) is the continuance. If the party opposing "shows by affidavit that, for specified reasons, it cannot present facts essential to justify its opposition," the court may
(1) deny the motion; (2) order a continuance to enable affidavits to be obtained, depositions to be taken, or other discovery to be undertaken; or (3) issue any other just order.
Note the mechanism: an affidavit giving specified reasons. Argument in the response brief that discovery is incomplete does not invoke Rule 56(f).
Partial judgment and established facts
Where the motion does not dispose of everything, Rule 56(d)(1) has the court narrow the case for trial. It "should, to the extent practicable, determine what material facts are not genuinely at issue," doing so "by examining the pleadings and evidence before it and by interrogating the attorneys." It then issues an order specifying those facts, and the consequence is firm:
The facts so specified must be treated as established in the action.
Rule 56(d)(2) permits the liability-only judgment: "An interlocutory summary judgment may be rendered on liability alone, even if there is a genuine issue on the amount of damages."
Bad-faith affidavits are not discretionary
Rule 56(g) uses "must," not "may":
If satisfied that an affidavit under this rule is submitted in bad faith or solely for delay, the court must order the submitting party to pay the other party the reasonable expenses, including attorney fees, it incurred as a result. An offending party or attorney may also be held in contempt.
The fee award follows automatically once the court makes the bad-faith finding. Contempt is the discretionary part.