Montana Code Annotated
Part 2. Administrative Enforcement of Support
40-5-201. Definitions

40-5-201. Definitions. As used in this part, the following definitions apply:
(1) "Alleged father" means a person who is alleged to have engaged in sexual intercourse with a child's mother during a possible time of conception of the child or a person who is presumed to be a child's father under the provisions of 40-6-105.
(2) (a) "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.
(b) The term may not be construed to limit the ability of the department to enforce a support order according to its terms when the order provides for support to extend beyond the child's 18th birthday.
(3) "Department" means the department of public health and human services.
(4) "Director" means the director of the department of public health and human services or the director's authorized representative.
(5) "Guidelines" means the child support guidelines adopted pursuant to 40-5-209.
(6) "Hearings officer" or "hearings examiner" means the hearings officer appointed by the department for the purposes of this chapter.
(7) "Need" means the necessary costs of food, clothing, shelter, and medical care for the support of a child or children.
(8) "Obligee" means:
(a) a person to whom a duty of support is owed and who is receiving support enforcement services under this part; or
(b) a public agency of this or another state or an Indian tribe having the right to receive current or accrued support payments.
(9) "Obligor" means a person, including an alleged father, who owes a duty of support.
(10) "Parent" means the natural or adoptive parent of a child.
(11) "Paternity genetic test" means a test that demonstrates through examination of genetic markers either that an alleged father is not the natural father of a child or that there is a probability that an alleged father is the natural father of a child. The genetic markers may be identified from a person's blood or tissue sample. The blood or tissue sample may be taken by blood drawing, buccal swab, or any other method approved by the American association of blood banks. Paternity genetic tests may include but are not limited to the human leukocyte antigen test and DNA probe technology.
(12) "Public assistance" means any type of monetary or other assistance for a child, including medical and foster care benefits. The term includes payments to meet the needs of a relative with whom the child is living, if assistance has been furnished with respect to the child by a state or county agency of this state or any other state.
(13) "Support debt" or "support obligation" means the amount created by:
(a) the failure to provide for the medical, health, and support needs of a child under the laws of this or any other state or under a support order;
(b) a support order for spousal maintenance of the custodial parent; or
(c) 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.
(14) "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.
(15) "IV-D" means the provisions of Title IV-D of the Social Security Act and the regulations promulgated under the act.
History: En. Sec. 1, Ch. 612, L. 1979; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 561, L. 1985; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 119, L. 1989; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 287, L. 1989; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 549, L. 1989; amd. Sec. 28, Ch. 702, L. 1989; amd. Sec. 5, Ch. 266, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 8, Ch. 631, L. 1993; amd. Sec. 8, Ch. 60, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 29, Ch. 504, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 134, Ch. 546, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 185, Ch. 42, L. 1997; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 482, L. 1997; amd. Sec. 40, Ch. 552, L. 1997; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 579, L. 1999; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 21, L. 2005; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 364, L. 2019.

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