Montana Code 42-4-102. Duties of placing parent
42-4-102. (Temporary) Duties of placing parent. (1) A parent who is directly placing a child for adoption shall execute a voluntary relinquishment and consent to adopt, including:
Terms Used In Montana Code 42-4-102
- 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
- Direct parental placement adoption: means an adoption in which the parent of the child places the child with a prospective adoptive parent personally known and selected by the parent independent of an agency. 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
- 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)receiving the adoptive decision support services required by 42-2-409; and
(b)if the parent is a minor, being advised by legal counsel other than the attorney representing the prospective adoptive parent.
(2)A placing parent shall identify and provide 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:
(a)any current spouse;
(b)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
(c)any adoptive parent.
(3)A placing parent shall identify and provide 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.
(4)A parent placing a child for adoption in a direct parental placement adoption shall provide:
(a)the disclosures of medical and social history required pursuant to 42-3-101;
(b)a certified copy of the child’s birth certificate or other document certifying the place and date of the child’s birth; and
(c)a certified copy of any existing court orders pertaining to custody or visitation of the child.
(5)A parent placing a child for adoption in a direct parental placement adoption shall file a notice of parental placement.
(6)A parent placing a child for adoption in a direct parental placement adoption shall file a disclosure of all disbursements made to or for the benefit of the parent by the prospective adoptive parent or any person acting on behalf of the prospective adoptive parent.
(7)Subject to the limitations set in 42-7-102, expenses for adoptive decision support services, postadoptive counseling, outpatient mental health services, legal fees, and the reasonable costs of preparing reports documenting the required disclosures of medical and social history and the disclosures documenting disbursements are allowable expenses that can be paid for by the prospective adoptive parent. (Terminates June 30, 2025–sec. 55, Ch. 716, L. 2023.)