The Mary J. Baker Revocable Trust and Linda J. Ecklund

Summary

The Montana Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment for Cenex, holding that the easement language unambiguously authorized Cenex to bury and use a fiber optic cable without limiting its use to pipeline operation or monitoring and permitted assignment of easement rights. The court also clarified that objective evidence of surrounding circumstances may be considered initially to determine whether an instrument is ambiguous, but may not be used further once the instrument is found unambiguous. Because the language was unambiguous and no material factual dispute remained, the denial of the Landowners' partial summary judgment motion and class-certification motion was affirmed as well.