Terms Used In Montana Code > Title 42 > Chapter 2 > Part 1 - Policy and Legislative Intent

• Adoption: means the act of creating the legal relationship between parent and child when it does not exist genetically. See Montana Code 42-1-103
• Adoptive parent: means an adult who has become the mother or father of a child through the legal process of adoption. See Montana Code 42-1-103
• Agency: means a child placement agency licensed by the state of Montana pursuant to Title 52, chapter 8, that is expressly empowered to place children preliminary to a possible adoption. See Montana Code 42-1-103
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Child: means any person under 18 years of age. See Montana Code 42-1-103
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Court: means a court of record in a competent jurisdiction and in Montana means a district court or a tribal court. See Montana Code 42-1-103
• Department: means the department of public health and human services, provided for in 2-15-2201. See Montana Code 42-1-103
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201