Montana Code 42-4-103. Direct parental placement — information to be filed
42-4-103. (Temporary) Direct parental placement — information to be filed. (1) A parent who proposes to place a child for adoption with a prospective adoptive parent who resides in Montana and who is not the child’s stepparent or an extended family member shall file with the court of the county in which the prospective adoptive parent or the parent making the placement resides the following:
Terms Used In Montana Code 42-4-103
- 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
- Birth parent: means the woman who gave birth to the child or the father of genetic origin of the child. See Montana Code 42-1-103
- Child: means any person under 18 years of age. See Montana Code 42-1-103
- 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
- Extended family member: means a person who is or was the adoptee's parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle, brother or sister, or child. See Montana Code 42-1-103
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- 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.
- Parent: means the birth or adoptive mother or the birth, adoptive, or legal father whose parental rights have not been terminated. See Montana Code 42-1-103
- Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- Placing parent: means a parent who is voluntarily making a child available for adoption. See Montana Code 42-1-103
- Preplacement evaluation: means the home study process conducted by the department or a licensed child-placing agency that:
(a)assists a prospective adoptive parent or family to assess its own readiness to adopt; and
(b)assesses whether the prospective adoptive parent or family and home meet applicable standards. See Montana Code 42-1-103
- Relinquishment: means the informed and voluntary release in writing of all parental rights with respect to a child by a parent to an agency or individual. See Montana Code 42-1-103
(a)a notice of parental placement containing the following information:
(i)the name and address of the placing parent;
(ii)the name and address of each prospective adoptive parent;
(iii)the name and address or expected date and place of birth of the child;
(iv)the identity and information on the location of any other legal parent or guardian of the child and any other person required to receive notice under 42-2-605, including any current spouse, any spouse who is the other birth parent and to whom the parent was married at the probable time of conception or birth of the child, and any adoptive parent;
(v)all relevant information pertaining to any Indian heritage of the child that would bring the child within the jurisdiction of the federal Indian Child Welfare Act, 25 U.S.C. § 1901, et seq., or the Montana Indian Child Welfare Act provided for in Title 41, chapter 3, part 13; and
(vi)the name and address of counsel, a guardian ad litem, or other representative, if any, of each of the parties mentioned in subsections (1)(a)(i) through (1)(a)(iii);
(b)a relinquishment and consent to adoption of the child by the adoptive parent;
(c)the adoptive decision support services report required by 42-2-409;
(d)the medical and social history disclosures required by 42-3-101;
(e)a report of disbursements identifying all payments made to or to the benefit of the placing parent by the prospective adoptive parent or anyone acting on the parent’s behalf that contains a statement by each person furnishing information in the report attesting to the truthfulness of the information furnished by that person;
(f)a certified copy of the child’s birth certificate or other document certifying the place and date of the child’s birth;
(g)a certified copy of any existing court orders pertaining to custody or visitation of the child; and
(h)the preplacement evaluation.
(2)The notice of parental placement must be signed by the parent making the placement. (Terminates June 30, 2025–sec. 55, Ch. 716, L. 2023.)