Montana Code 40-5-291. Order to seek employment
40-5-291. Order to seek employment. (1) In a proceeding under this chapter to enforce a support order, if an obligor claims inability to pay support because of unemployment or underemployment, the department may order the obligor to seek suitable employment and make progress reports on that activity to the department unless the obligor proves by a preponderance of the evidence that:
Terms Used In Montana Code 40-5-291
- Child: means :
(i)a person under 18 years of age who is not otherwise emancipated, self-supporting, married, or a member of the armed forces of the United States;
(ii)a person under 19 years of age and still in high school;
(iii)a person who is mentally or physically incapacitated if the incapacity began prior to the person's 18th birthday; or
(iv)in a IV-D case, a person for whom:
(A)support rights are assigned under 53-2-613;
(B)a public assistance payment has been made;
(C)the department is providing support enforcement services under 40-5-203; or
(D)the department has received a referral for IV-D services from an agency of another state or an Indian tribe under the provisions of the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, the Revised Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act, the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act, or Title IV-D of the Social Security Act. See Montana Code 40-5-201
- Department: means the department of public health and human services. See Montana Code 40-5-201
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Obligor: means a person, including an alleged father, who owes a duty of support. See Montana Code 40-5-201
- Support order: means an order, whether temporary or final, that:
(a)provides for the payment of a specific amount of money, expressed in periodic increments or as a lump-sum amount, for the support of the child, including an amount expressed in dollars for medical and health needs, child care, education, recreation, clothing, transportation, and other related expenses and costs specific to the needs of the child;
(b)is issued by:
(i)a district court of this state;
(ii)a court of appropriate jurisdiction of another state, Indian tribe, or foreign country;
(iii)an administrative agency pursuant to proceedings under this part; or
(iv)an administrative agency of another state, Indian tribe, or foreign country with a hearing function and process similar to those of the department under this part; and
(c)when the context requires, includes:
(i)judgments and orders providing periodic payments for the maintenance or support of the custodial parent of a child receiving services under this chapter; and
(ii)amounts for the recovery of fines, fees, penalties, interest, and other funds and costs that the department is authorized under this chapter to collect by the use of any procedure available for the payment, enforcement, and collection of child support or spousal maintenance or support. See Montana Code 40-5-201
(a)the obligor is engaged in diligent, bona fide efforts to seek suitable employment; or
(b)the obligor, due to illness, injury, or other incapacity, does not have the ability to seek employment or to engage in work if employment is offered to the obligor.
(2)The seek-work order must direct the obligor to:
(a)seek employment within a specified amount of time;
(b)file a weekly report with the department showing at least five new attempts by the obligor to find employment; and
(c)include in the report filed under subsection (2)(b) the name, address, and telephone number of the employers with whom the obligor sought employment and the name of the individuals the obligor contacted to inquire about or apply for employment.
(3)The order is effective for 6 months or until the obligor finds work, whichever occurs first.
(4)Failure to report or otherwise comply with a seek-work order, absent good cause, is evidence of willful nonpayment of child support for which the obligor may be determined to have committed the offense of nonsupport under 45-5-621 or may be held in civil contempt under Title 40, chapter 5, part 6. The department may enforce the order as provided in 40-5-226.
(5)For the purpose of this section, “suitable employment” is employment commensurate with the obligor’s education, training, professional or occupational qualifications, job skills, work history, and the availability of employment opportunities in the community, or in the absence of commensurate employment available within a reasonable range of the obligor’s area of residence, suitable employment is any employment that the obligor is capable of performing.