Title 40, Title 40

(1) The district court has jurisdiction of an action brought under this part. The action may be joined with an action for dissolution, annulment, separate maintenance, support, or adoption. (2) For purposes of an action brought under this part, personal jurisdiction is establishe…

The child must be made a party to the action. A minor must be represented by the minor's general guardian or a guardian ad litem appointed by the court. The child's mother or father may not represent the child as guardian or otherwise. The court may not appoint the department of …

(1) As soon as practicable after an action to declare the existence or nonexistence of the father and child relationship has been brought, an informal hearing must be held. The court may order that the hearing be held before a referee. The public must be barred from the hearing. …

(1) The court may, and upon request of a party shall, require the child, mother, or alleged father to submit to paternity tests. The tests shall be performed by an expert qualified as an examiner of blood types, appointed by the court. (2) The court, upon reasonable request by a …

Evidence relating to paternity may include: (1) evidence of sexual intercourse between the mother and alleged father at any possible time of conception; (2) an expert's opinion concerning the statistical probability of the alleged father's paternity based upon the duration of the…

(1) On the basis of the information produced at the pretrial hearing, the judge or referee conducting the hearing shall evaluate the probability of determining the existence or nonexistence of the father and child relationship in a trial and whether a judicial declaration of the …

(1) An action under this part is a civil action governed by the rules of civil procedure. The mother of the child and the alleged father are competent to testify and may be compelled to testify. Sections 40-6-111(2), 40-6-112, and 40-6-113 apply to all actions brought under this …

(1) The judgment or order of the court determining the existence or nonexistence of the parent and child relationship is determinative for all purposes. (2) If the judgment or order of the court is at variance with the child's birth certificate, the court shall order that a subst…

(1) If existence of the father and child relationship is declared or paternity or a duty of support has been acknowledged or adjudicated under this part or under prior law, the court may, except as provided in 40-5-909 and 40-6-116(8), order support payments to be made to the mot…

The court has continuing jurisdiction to modify or revoke a judgment or order: (1) for future education and support; and (2) with respect to matters listed in 40-6-116(3), 40-6-116(4), and 40-6-117(3), except that a court entering a judgment or order for the payment of a lump sum…

(1) At the pretrial hearing and in further proceedings, any party may be represented by counsel. The court shall order the office of state public defender, pursuant to the Montana Public Defender Act, Title 47, chapter 1, to assign counsel for a party who is financially unable to…

Notwithstanding any other law concerning public hearings and records, any hearing or trial held under this part shall be held in closed court without admittance of any person other than those necessary to the action or proceeding. All papers and records, other than the final judg…

Any interested party may bring an action to determine the existence or nonexistence of a mother and child relationship. Insofar as practicable, the provisions of this part applicable to the father and child relationship apply.

(1) Any promise in writing to furnish support for a child growing out of a supposed or alleged father and child relationship does not require consideration and is enforceable according to its terms, subject to 40-6-107(4). (2) In the best interest of the child or the mother, the …

(1) Upon order of a court of this state or upon request of a court of another state, the department of public health and human services shall prepare a substitute certificate of birth consistent with the findings of the court and shall substitute the new certificate for the origi…

This part shall be applied and construed to effectuate its general purpose to make uniform the law with respect to the subject of this part among states enacting it.

All children born in wedlock are presumed to be legitimate.

All children of a woman who has been married, born within 10 months after the dissolution of the woman's marriage, are presumed to be legitimate children of that marriage.

A child born before wedlock becomes legitimate by the subsequent marriage of its parents.

The parent or parents of a child shall give the child support and education suitable to the child's circumstances.

The proper court may direct an allowance to be made to the parent of a child out of the child's property for the past or future support and education of the child, on such conditions as may be proper, whenever such direction is for the child's benefit.

If a parent chargeable with the support of a child dies leaving the child chargeable to the county and leaving an estate sufficient for the child's support, the county commissioners of the county may claim provision for the child's support from the parent's estate by civil action…

It is the duty of the father and the mother of any poor person who is unable to provide self-maintenance by work to maintain that person to the extent of the parent's ability.

(1) If a parent with a duty to support a child fails to, neglects to, refuses to, or otherwise does not provide necessary articles or financial assistance for the child's support, according to the parent's circumstances, a relative or third person may in good faith supply the nec…

A married person is not bound to support a spouse's children by a former marriage. However, if the person receives the spouse's children into the family and supports them, it is presumed that the person does so as a parent, and in that case, the children are not liable to the per…

Where a person, after attaining majority, continues to serve and to be supported by the parent, neither party is entitled to compensation, in the absence of an agreement therefor.

The father and mother of an unmarried minor child are equally entitled to the parenting, services, and earnings of the child. If either parent is dead or unable or refuses to exercise parenting or has abandoned the family, the other parent is entitled to the parenting, services, …

The parent, as such, has no control over the property of the child.

The abuse of parental authority is the subject of judicial cognizance in a civil action brought by the child or by its relative within the third degree or by the county commissioners of the county where the child resides. When the abuse is established, the child may be freed from…

The authority of the parent ceases: (1) upon the appointment, by a court, of a guardian of the person of a child; (2) upon the marriage of a child; or (3) upon its attaining majority.

The parent, whether solvent or insolvent, may relinquish to the child the right of controlling the child and receiving the child's earnings. Abandonment by the parent is presumptive evidence of relinquishment.

The wages of a minor employed in service may be paid to the minor until the parent or guardian entitled to the wages gives the employer notice that the parent or guardian claims the wages.

A municipal corporation, county, city, town, school district, or department of the state of Montana, a person, or a religious organization whether incorporated or unincorporated is entitled to recover damages in a civil action in an amount not to exceed $6,900 in a court of compe…

The recovery of damages under 40-6-237 is limited to the actual damages in an amount not to exceed $6,900 in addition to taxable court costs and reasonable attorney fees to be set by the court not to exceed $1,800. The right to recover attorney fees as provided by this section is…

This part may be cited as the "Montana Safe Haven Newborn Protection Act".

As used in this part, the following definitions apply: (1) "Child-placing agency" means an agency licensed under Title 52, chapter 8, part 1. (2) "Court" means a court of record in a competent jurisdiction and, in Montana, means a district court or a tribal court. (3) "Department…

(1) The court has jurisdiction over a newborn who is surrendered to an emergency services provider as provided in 40-6-405. The court may appoint a guardian ad litem to represent a newborn in proceedings under this part. (2) Except as provided in 40-6-406, the reporting requireme…

A fire department or law enforcement agency and the agents and employees of a fire department or law enforcement agency are immune in a civil action for damages for an act or omission in accepting or transferring a newborn under this part, except for an act or omission constituti…

(1) If a parent surrenders an infant who may be a newborn to an emergency services provider, the emergency services provider shall comply with the requirements of this section under the assumption that the infant is a newborn. The emergency services provider shall, without a cour…

(1) An emergency services provider that is not a hospital and that takes a newborn into temporary protective custody under 40-6-405 shall transfer the newborn to a hospital. The hospital shall accept a newborn transferred to the hospital by an emergency services provider in compl…

(1) Upon receipt of notice under 40-6-406, the department shall: (a) immediately assume the care, control, and temporary protective custody of the newborn; (b) if a parent is known and willing, immediately meet with the parent; (c) make a temporary placement of the newborn; (d) i…

(Temporary) Grant program for installation and maintenance of newborn safety devices -- rulemaking authority. (1) The department of public health and human services shall award competitive grants to eligible fire departments, hospitals, and law enforcement agencies for the instal…

(1) Any person alleging to be the biological parent of a newborn who was surrendered to an emergency services provider under 40-6-405 may, within 60 days of the date of surrender of the newborn, file an action with the court for custody pursuant to 40-4-211. (2) Before making a c…

In a custody action under 40-6-411, the court shall determine custody of the newborn based on the newborn's best interest as provided in 40-4-212. The court shall determine the newborn's best interest with the goal of achieving permanent placement for the newborn at the earliest …

Based on the court's finding of the newborn's best interest under 40-6-412, the court may issue an order: (1) granting legal or physical custody, or both, of the newborn to the parent and either retaining or relinquishing jurisdiction; or (2) denying custody of the newborn to the…

(1) Except as provided in 41-3-1326, a parent who surrenders a newborn under 40-6-405 and who does not file a custody action under 40-6-411 is presumed to have knowingly waived the parent's parental rights to the newborn. (2) If a custody action is not filed under 40-6-411 or if …