Terms Used In Montana Code > Title 41 > Chapter 3 > Part 13 - Montana Indian Child Welfare Act

• Active efforts: means affirmative, active, thorough, and timely efforts meeting the requirements of 41-3-1319 that are intended primarily to maintain or reunite an Indian child with the child's family and that are tailored to the facts and circumstances of the case. See Montana Code 41-3-1303
• Adoptive placement: means the permanent placement of an Indian child for adoption, including any action resulting in a final decree of adoption. See Montana Code 41-3-1303
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Best interests of the child: means the physical, mental, and psychological conditions and needs of the child and any other factor considered by the court to be relevant to the child. See Montana Code 41-3-102
• Child custody proceeding: means any state or private proceeding, other than an emergency proceeding, that may culminate in a foster care placement, termination of parental rights, preadoptive placement, or adoptive placement. See Montana Code 41-3-1303
• Child protection specialist: means an employee of the department who investigates allegations of child abuse, neglect, and endangerment and has been certified pursuant to 41-3-127. See Montana Code 41-3-102
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Customary: means according to usage. See Montana Code 1-1-206
• Department: means the department of public health and human services provided for in 2-15-2201. See Montana Code 41-3-1303
• 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.
• extended family member: means an individual defined by the law or custom of the Indian child's tribe as a relative of the Indian child. See Montana Code 41-3-1303
• Foster care placement: means an action removing an Indian child from the child's parent or Indian custodian for temporary placement in a foster home or institution or with a relative, guardian, conservator, or suitable other person under which the parent or Indian custodian may not have the child returned on demand but parental rights have not been terminated. See Montana Code 41-3-1303
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• 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.
• Indian: means a person who is a member of an Indian tribe or who is an Alaska Native and a member of a regional corporation as established in 43 U. See Montana Code 41-3-1303
• Indian child: means an unmarried Indian person who is under 18 years of age and who is:

  (a)a member of an Indian tribe; or

  (b)eligible for membership in an Indian tribe and is the biological child of a member of an Indian tribe. See Montana Code 41-3-1303

• Indian custodian: means an Indian person who under tribal law, tribal custom, or state law has legal or temporary physical custody of an Indian child or to whom the parent has transferred temporary care, physical custody, and control of the Indian child. See Montana Code 41-3-1303
• Indian tribe: has the meaning provided in 41-3-1303. See Montana Code 41-3-102
• 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.
• membership: means a determination by an Indian tribe that an individual is a member of or eligible for membership in that Indian tribe. See Montana Code 41-3-1303
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Parent: means a biological parent of an Indian child or an individual who has lawfully adopted an Indian child, including adoptions made as tribal customary adoptions. See Montana Code 41-3-1303
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Permanent placement: means reunification of the child with the child's parent, adoption, placement with a legal guardian, placement with a fit and willing relative, or placement in another planned permanent living arrangement until the child reaches 18 years of age. See Montana Code 41-3-102
• Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• Preadoptive placement: means the temporary placement of an Indian child in a foster home or institution after the termination of parental rights but before or in lieu of adoptive placement. See Montana Code 41-3-1303
• Protective services: means services provided by the department:

  (i)to enable a child alleged to have been abused or neglected to remain safely in the home;

  (ii)to enable a child alleged to have been abused or neglected who has been removed from the home to safely return to the home; or

  (iii)to achieve permanency for a child adjudicated as a youth in need of care when circumstances and the best interests of the child prevent reunification with parents or a return to the home. See Montana Code 41-3-102

• Public defender: Represent defendants who can't afford an attorney in criminal matters.
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• 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
• Termination of parental rights: means any action resulting in the termination of the parent-child relationship. See Montana Code 41-3-1303
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testify: means every mode of oral statement under oath or affirmation. See Montana Code 1-1-202
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Tribal court: means a court or body vested by an Indian tribe with jurisdiction over child custody proceedings. See Montana Code 41-3-1303
• tribe: means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community of Indians recognized as eligible for the services provided to Indians by the secretary of the interior because of their status as Indians. See Montana Code 41-3-1303
• Writing: includes printing. See Montana Code 1-1-203