Title 40, Title 40

(1) Except as otherwise provided in subsections (3) and (4), a tribunal of this state shall recognize and enforce a foreign support agreement registered in this state. (2) An application or direct request for recognition and enforcement of a foreign support agreement must be acco…

(1) A tribunal of this state may not modify a convention child support order if the obligee remains a resident of the foreign country where the support order was issued unless: (a) the obligee submits to the jurisdiction of a tribunal of this state, either expressly or by defendi…

Personal information gathered or transmitted under 40-5-1073 through 40-5-1085 may be used only for the purposes for which it was gathered or transmitted.

A record filed with a tribunal of this state under 40-5-1073 through 40-5-1085 must be in the original language and, if not in English, must be accompanied by an English translation.

(1) For purposes of 40-5-1089 and this section, "governor" includes an individual performing the functions of governor or the executive authority of a state covered by this part. (2) The governor of this state may: (a) demand that the governor of another state surrender an indivi…

(1) Before making a demand that the governor of another state surrender an individual charged criminally in this state with having failed to provide for the support of an obligee, the governor of this state may require a prosecutor of this state to demonstrate that at least 60 da…

In applying and construing this uniform act, consideration must be given to the need to promote uniformity of the law with respect to its subject matter among states that enact it.

As used in this part, the following definitions apply: (1) "Alleged father" means a person who is alleged to have engaged in sexual intercourse with a child's mother during a possible time of conception of the child or a person who is presumed to be a child's father under the pro…

(1) The department may take action under the provisions of this chapter, the abandonment or nonsupport statutes, the Uniform Parentage Act established in Title 40, chapter 6, part 1, and other appropriate state and federal statutes to provide IV-D services if the department: (a) …

(1) The department may accept applications for child support enforcement services on behalf of persons who are not recipients of public assistance and may take appropriate action to establish or enforce support obligations against persons owing a duty to pay support. (2) The depa…

An obligee shall cooperate with the department in: (1) identifying and locating the obligor; (2) establishing the paternity of a child; (3) obtaining support or any other payments due the obligee and child; and (4) obtaining reimbursement for previously paid public assistance, if…

If the department gives written notice to the obligor, to the clerk of the court, or to an administrative agency that issued a support order, that the child for whom a support order exists is receiving services from the department, then any support money must be paid to the depar…

(1) The department shall establish a central unit to serve as a registry for the receipt of information, for answering IV-D inquiries concerning deserting parents, for receiving and answering requests for information made by consumer reporting agencies under 40-5-261, to coordina…

If the department is providing child support enforcement services, the department may also, using any remedy available to it, collect and enforce any judgment or order for the maintenance or support of the child's custodial parent.

(1) In any proceeding initiated pursuant to this part to establish a child support order, whether final or temporary, and in each modification of an existing order, the support order must include a medical support order as defined in 40-5-804. The department may initiate an indep…

(1) The department shall adopt uniform child support guidelines to be used to determine minimum child support amounts. In addition to giving notice and publicizing the rules as provided in the Montana Administrative Procedure Act, the department shall give notice to the supreme c…

(1) The department may charge an application fee to each person applying for services under 40-5-203, except that the fee may not be charged to persons who receive continuing services under 40-5-203(3). The application fee may be: (a) a flat dollar amount; or (b) an amount based …

(1) If the department is providing child support enforcement services under this part and has reasonable cause to believe that a support obligation is owed, an obligor, upon written request, shall complete a statement, under oath, stating the obligor's: (a) current monthly income…

(1) The department shall establish a scale of suggested minimum contributions to assist counties and courts in determining the amount that a parent should be expected to contribute toward the support of a child under this part. The scale must be based on the uniform child support…

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), any payment of public assistance money made to or for the benefit of a child creates a debt due and owing the state of Montana by the obligor in an amount equal to the amount of public assistance money paid. In the case of an obligor who …

(1) The department may issue a notice of a support debt accrued or accruing based upon a support order. The notice may be served upon the obligor, in the manner prescribed for the service of a summons in a civil action in accordance with the provisions of the Montana Rules of Civ…

(1) If the department reasonably believes that the obligor is not a resident of this state or is about to move from this state or has hidden, absconded, or left or has removed or is about to remove, secrete, waste, or otherwise dispose of property that could be made subject to co…

(1) In the absence of an existing support order, when the requirements of this section are met, the department may enter an order requiring a child's parent or parents to pay an amount each month for the support of the child. An order issued under this section must include a medi…

(1) The administrative hearing is defined as a "contested case". (2) If a hearing is requested, it must initially be conducted by teleconference methods and is subject to the Montana Administrative Procedure Act. At the request of a party or upon a showing that the party's case w…

(1) An abstract of any final administrative order under this chapter may be filed in the office of the clerk of the district court of any county of Montana and must be filed in the office of the clerk of the district court that received notice under 40-5-222(5). The order must be…

(1) For purposes of an administrative action brought under this part, personal jurisdiction is established in the department over any individual or the individual's guardian or conservator if: (a) the individual is personally or by certified mail served with notice within this st…

(1) When the paternity of a child has not been legally established under the provisions of Title 40, chapter 6, part 1, or otherwise, the department may proceed to establish paternity under the provisions of 40-5-231 through 40-5-237. An administrative hearing held under the prov…

(1) (a) Paternity genetic testing may be requested by the alleged father, the mother, or the child through the child's custodian and may be made in conjunction with or in addition to a notice the department issues under 40-5-232. The request must be in writing and must be support…

(1) The department shall appoint an expert who is qualified in examining genetic markers to conduct any paternity genetic test required by 40-5-233. (2) An affidavit documenting the chain of custody of any blood or tissue specimen is admissible to establish the chain of custody. …

(1) An administrative order of the department declaring the paternity of a child establishes the legal existence of the parent and child relationship for all purposes and confers or imposes all parental rights, privileges, duties, and obligations. (2) Upon the request of the moth…

(1) If the scientific evidence resulting from a paternity genetic test does not exclude the alleged father and the alleged father continues to deny paternity, the alleged father shall file a written objection with the department within 20 days after service of the paternity genet…

(1) In a matter referred to the district court, if an alleged father objects to the procedures for or the results of a paternity genetic test, the alleged father shall file a written objection with the court within 20 days after service of the notice required by 40-5-236(3). The …

Because of the privacy interests involved, a hearing under 40-5-231 through 40-5-237 and this section for the purpose of determining paternity or reasonable cause to pursue paternity genetic testing is closed to the public. Attendance of others may be limited by the hearing offic…

(1) The department may, at any time after asserting a support lien, serve a notice of the lien on any person, firm, corporation, association, or political subdivision or department of the state in possession of any real or personal property that is due, owing, or belonging to an …

If any person, firm, corporation, association, political subdivision, or department of the state has in its possession earnings, deposits, accounts, or balances in excess of the amount of the debt claimed by the department plus $100, that person or entity may release the excess t…

(1) (a) The department may issue a warrant for distraint to execute support liens established by 40-5-248 or to enforce and collect any money obligation authorized under this chapter. (b) The warrant must be an order, under official seal of the department, directed to a sheriff o…

(1) There is a support lien on the real and personal property of an obligor: (a) when the department has entered a final decision in a contested case under this chapter that finds the obligor owes a sum certain debt either to the department or to an obligee, or both; or (b) upon …

At any time after notice to the obligor, the department may set or reset a level and schedule of payments to be paid upon the debt consistent with the income, earning capacity, and resources of the obligor.

(1) The department may collect interest on any support debt due and owing to it at the statutory interest rate payable on judgments recovered in the courts of this state. (2) No provision of this part may be construed to require the department to maintain interest balance due acc…

(1) It is the intent of this part that administrative findings and orders be subject to judicial review, but administrative remedies must be exhausted prior to judicial review. The administrative procedures described in this part are subject to review in the appropriate district …

Support debts ensuing as a result of determinations made through the administrative procedures described in this part are subject to statutory limitations as set forth in Title 27, chapter 2.

(1) Any support debt due the department from an obligor, which debt the department determines uncollectible, may be transferred from accounts receivable to a suspense account and cease to be accounted as an asset. If a warrant for distraint has been filed and the support debt has…

No employer may discharge or prejudice an employee for reason that an assignment of earnings has been presented in settlement of a support debt or that a warrant for distraint has been served against the employee's earnings. This provision does not apply if more than three warran…

(1) Any person, firm, corporation, association, political subdivision, or department of the state employing an obligor shall honor, according to its terms, a duly executed assignment of earnings, whether executed voluntarily or pursuant to a support order presented by the departm…

(1) The department may make information about a support debt available to consumer reporting agencies, as defined in 31-3-102, upon request. The department may charge a fee to recover the cost of responding to requests for support debt information. The department shall provide ad…

The department shall adopt rules to implement this section, including rules: (1) providing for advance notice to the obligor of support debt information requested under 40-5-261; (2) establishing the procedure for contesting the accuracy of information proposed for release to con…