Montana divorce laws
| Montana
Divorce Laws |
Link |
| Montana
Child Support Enforcement
Division |
Link |
| Montana Low
Income Self Help |
Link |
| Montana State
Bar Association |
Link |
| Montana Coalition
Against Domestic Violence
(safety) |
Link |
| Montana Child
Support
Calculator |
Link |
| Montana Bureau
of
Mediation
Services |
Link |
| Montana Self-Representation
Self-Help |
Link |
| Montana Free
Divorce
and
Support
forms
(download) |
Link |
Child
Support
 In
petitions involving dissolution of marriage,
legal separation, maintenance, or child support,
Montana divorce laws allow the court to
order either or both parents owing a duty
of support to a child to pay an amount necessary
for the child's support, without regard to
marital misconduct. The court will consider all relevant factors, including:
1. the financial resources of the child; 2. the financial resources of
the parents; 3. the standard of living that the child would have enjoyed
had the marriage not been dissolved; 4. the physical and emotional condition
of the child and the child's educational and medical needs; 5. the age
of the child; 6. the cost of day care for the child; 7. the age of the
child; 8. any parenting plan that is ordered or decided upon; and 9. the
needs of any person, other than the child, whom either parent is legally
obligated to support.
Any court order that initiates or modifies an order concerning child support will apply the uniform child support guidelines established by Montana law. An imputed amount [estimated and assigned] will be assessed against a party that fails to adequately provide verifiable information on the income. The court can go outside the guidelines if it finds reason to do so.
Each district court judgment, decree,
or order that establishes paternity or establishes or modifies a
child support obligation must include a provision requiring the parties
to promptly file with the court and to update, as necessary, information
on: 1. the party's identity, residential
and mailing addresses, telephone number, [social security number,]
and driver's license number; 2. the
name, address, and telephone number of the party's employer; and 3. if
the child is covered by a health or medical insurance plan, the name
of the insurance carrier or health benefit plan and any pertinent
information the court may deem appropriate.
| Divorce Myth: Having a child together will help a couple to improve their marital satisfaction and prevent a divorce. Reality: Many studies have shown that the most stressful time in a marriage is after the first child is born. Couples who have a child together have a slightly decreased risk of divorce compared to couples without children, but the decreased risk is far less than it used to be when parents with marital problems were more likely to stay together “for the sake of the children”. |
Residency 
 According
to Montana divorce laws, a petition for separation
may go forward if the court finds that one
of the parties is domiciled in this state,
or was stationed in this state while a member
of the armed services and that the domicile
or military presence has been maintained
for 90 days prior to the filing of the action.
Child
Custody
The
court will determine
the parenting plan, which
will include child custody
orders, in accordance
with the best interest
of the child. Relevant
factors that may influence
the court's decision
can be: 1. the wishes
of the child's parent
or parents; 2. the wishes of the child; 3. relationships of
the child with the child's
parent or parents and
siblings and with any
other person who significantly
affects the child's best
interest; 4. the
child's adjustment to
home, school, and community;
5. the mental and physical
health of all individuals
involved; 6. physical
abuse or threat of physical
abuse by one parent against
the other parent or the
child; 7. chemical dependency
or chemical abuse on
the part of either parent;
8. continuity and stability
of care; 9. developmental
needs of the child; 10.
whether a parent has
knowingly failed to pay
birth-related costs that
the parent is able to
pay, 11. whether a parent
has knowingly failed
to financially support
a child that the parent is able to support, 12. whether the child has frequent
and continuing contact
with both parents, and
adverse effects on the
child resulting from
continuous and vexatious
parenting plan amendment
actions.
Visitation
Parents have the option of creating a visitation
(parenting) schedule for the non-custodial parent and the children, or
if an agreement is possible, having the court impose a visitation schedule.
In either case, you should consider including the following considerations
so that no questions remain: How is the decreed custody defined? What are
the rights and responsibilities? Who has legal custody? Which holiday does
the child spend with you? What time and where may the other parent pick
the child up? What time should the child be returned home? What is the
procedure to follow if either of you are running late and won't be there
on time? How much notice should you be given if they are planning a vacation?
How far away may the other spouse move? What about future partners? Should
those partners stay overnight in front of the children?
If an visitation schedule can't be agreed
upon between the parties, the court will decide visitation, and will likely
include the following: alternate weekend visitation
(3-day weekends included), mid-week visitation, sharing of the children
during periods of school recess -winter, spring and summer, New Year's
Eve, Easter, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Thanksgiving, and Christmas
with one parent or the other in alternate years, Father's Day with Father,
Mother's Day with Mother, alternate years on the children's birthdays,
and open communication by phone and computer.
Marital Separation or Legal Separation
Irretrievable breakdown of the marriage is
the only grounds for legal separation in Montana divorce law. One of the
spouses must be a resident of Montana for 90 days immediately prior to
filing for legal separation. Filing for a legal separation is very similar
to that of a divorce. The difference of course is that the parties continue
to be married but live separate lives. A
separation or "legal separation" is often sought by one
of the parties that wants to terminate the relationship but wishes
that the marital status not be interrupted for religious or health
care insurance coverage purposes.
Grounds
for
Divorce
 Montana
divorce statutes dictate that a marriage
can be dissolved by a summary dissolution
[dissolving the marriage without any further
action] if: Irreconcilable differences have caused
the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage,
and both parties agree that the marriage
should be dissolved.
The wife is not pregnant and:
-
there are no children from the relationship born before or during the marriage or adopted by the parties during the marriage; or
-
the parties have executed an agreed-upon parenting plan and the child support and medical support have been determined by judicial or administrative order for all children from the relationship born before or during the marriage or adopted by the parties during the marriage.
-
neither party has any interest in real property or they have agreed to its division
Other conditions exist as they relate to property and obligations. [In short, if the parties agree to all issues and understand those agreements, a summary order will be issued].
Irretrievable breakdown as grounds for divorce:
When both of the parties stated under oath that the marriage is irretrievably broken or one of the parties has so stated and the other has not denied it, the court will make a finding whether the marriage is irretrievably broken.
When one of the parties has denied under oath that the marriage is irretrievably broken, the court will:
- make a finding whether the marriage is irretrievably broken; or
- continue the matter for further hearing not fewer than 30 or more than 60 days later. Counseling may be recommended by the court.
| Divorce Myth: Following divorce, the woman’s standard of living plummets by seventy three percent while that of the man’s improves by forty two percent. Reality: This dramatic inequity, one of the most widely publicized statistics from the social sciences, was later found to be based on a faulty calculation. A reanalysis of the data determined that the woman’s loss was twenty seven percent while the man’s gain was ten percent. Irrespective of the magnitude of the differences, the gender gap is real and seems not to have narrowed much in recent decades. |
Mediation or Counseling
The district court can at any time require the parties to participate in the mediation of the case. Any party may request the court to order mediation. If the parties agree to mediation, the court may require the attendance of the parties or the representatives of the parties to settle the case at the mediation sessions.
Marital Annulment or Marriage Annulment
An annulment of a marriage in Montana terminates
an already illegal marriage and restores the parties to single status. Annulments
are more difficult to get because the court expects more documentation
and proof of grounds for annulment that are accepted in Montana. Those
grounds include: Fraud- If you have been cheated into a marriage or your
spouse has misrepresented him or herself, Mental illness- If your spouse
is insane and the insanity is affecting your married life, Bigamy- your
spouse married you while already married, Incest (or consanguinity)- marrying
a blood relative too close to you (parents, uncle, aunt, etc.), and a Physical
disability- cannot consummate the marriage.
Alimony/Maintenance/Spousal
Support
 The
court may grant
alimony
(a maintenance
order)
for either spouse
only
if it finds that
the
spouse seeking
maintenance: a.)
lacks sufficient
property to provide
for his reasonable
needs;
and b.) is unable
to support himself
through appropriate
employment or is
the custodian of
a child whose condition
or circumstances
make it appropriate
that the custodian
not be required
to seek employment
outside the home.
Marital
misconduct will not
influence the court in
determining alimony
(maintenance), and after
considering
all relevant facts including:
a.) the financial resources
of the party seeking
maintenance, b.) the
time necessary to acquire
sufficient education
or training to enable
the party seeking maintenance
to find appropriate
employment, c.) the
standard of living
established during
the marriage, d.)
the
duration of the marriage,
e.) the age and the
physical and emotional
condition of the
spouse seeking maintenance,
f.) the ability of
the spouse from whom
maintenance is sought
to meet his needs
while meeting those
of the spouse seeking
maintenance.
Waiting
Period
The parties must have either lived separate and apart for more than one hundred eighty (180) days or there must exist serious marital discord that adversely affects one or both of the parties toward the marriage.
Grandparents
Rights
 The district court may grant to a grandparent of a child reasonable rights to contact with the child. A finding for grandparents rights may be granted only upon a finding by the court that the contact would be in the best interest of the child. A person may not petition the court more often than once every 2 years unless there has been a significant change in the circumstances of the child, the child's parent, guardian, or custodian, or the child's grandparent.
Divorce Settlement
You
can agree with your spouse on a divorce settlement of assets and
debts, or the court can impose its own divorce settlement. Your
choice. Montana is an equitable distribution state. This means
that the court will divide the marital property between the parties
as it deems equitable and just but not necessarily evenly, after
setting aside to each spouse the separate property of each. Factors
the court may consider include:
-
The duration of the marriage and prior marriage of either party.
-
The age, health, station, occupation, amount and sources of income.
-
Vocational skills, employability, estate, liabilities and needs of each party.
-
Custodial provisions.
-
Whether the apportionment is in lieu of or in addition to maintenance.
-
The opportunity of each for future acquisition of capital assets and income.
Did you come into this marriage owning
a house? Concerned about the equity in that house that you brought
into the marriage? Here's how it works generally. What you brought
into the marriage is usually all yours. However, any appreciation
of the house or the property value is normally treated as a "marital
asset", meaning that you will likely forfeit a third to a half
of that appreciation to your spouse in the divorce.
|
