MONTANA DIVORCE
The District Court shall enter a decree of dissolution of marriage if: the court finds that one of the parties, at the time the dissolution of marriage was filed, was a resident of this state, or was stationed in this state while a member of the armed services, and that the domicile or military presence has been maintained for 90 days preceding the filing of the action.
If you have minor children living with your spouse in another state for over six months then you should consider filing in that state as that court has jurisdiction over the children. You spouse can waive that jurisdiction in writing.
County of Filing:
You should file the divorce in the county your spouse lives in, or in the county that you both lived in when you separated, or in your county if your spouse lives out of state. You or your spouse must have a Montana address in the county of filing. Montana civilian residents living overseas may file in Montana if they have maintained their residency in Montana.
MILITARY:
You should file the divorce in the county your spouse lives in, or in the county that you both lived in when you separated, or in your county if your spouse lives out of state. You or your spouse must have a Montana address in the county of filing. Montana civilian residents living overseas may file in Montana if they have maintained their residency in Montana.
GROUNDS FOR DIVORCE: NO-FAULT or FAULT ?
Montana law permits a judgment of dissolution of marriage based upon the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage with no reasonable likelihood of reconciliation.
WAITING PERIOD:
Montana law requires that thirty (30) days elapse from the filing of the Complaint and summons or Answer and Waiver before a final judgment of divorce be entered. If your spouse signs the Montana “Answer and Waiver...” immediately after you file the complaint then you can divorced in as little as 30 days.
The law further requires that neither party to the divorce may remarry, except to each other, until sixty (60) days after the judgment of divorce is entered
PROPERTY OF THE MARRIAGE:
In a divorce, the property (land, house, buildings, and items of personal property) owned (and debts owed) by the couple is divided between the parties. In an uncontested divorce, this division is accomplished by means of a Marital Separation Agreement (MSA). You and your spouse must agree to the property and debt division and memorialize your agreement in the Marital Separation Agreement, which will be incorporated by reference into the Decree of Divorce that ultimately ends your marriage. You may agree to divide the property any way you like, as long as a basic fairness is maintained. You do not need to list items already divided or not an important issue in the divorce. You may revise the MSA after receipt of the documents from us by sending an email with your changes. There is never a charge for revisions at any time up to one year.
If you cannot agree on any item of this division, the dissolution of marriage transforms into a contested divorce. If at the final hearing the divorce is still contested we do not provide advice for that hearing. You may need to consult an attorney or be prepared to tell the judge why you feel your requested division of property is fair.
SPOUSAL SUPPORT:
Spousal Support is either agreed upon by the parties or determined by the judge in a contested hearing. We cannot give legal advice regarding spousal support but will include your request in the documents.
The questionnaire you fill out will outline the custody, visitation and support for the children. We will prepare the documents accordingly, and we will also prepare a Marital Separation Agreement (at no additional cost) which outlines in specific detail all the provisions regarding the children. Both parties must attend the parenting class or get a waiver. A list of the places in Montana to attend may be obtained from the court.
CHILD SUPPORT:
The child support will either be an amount you and your spouse agree upon, or it will be determined for you by the court, according to the Montana Child Support Guidelines. If you wish the court to calculate the amount then you will need to file the standardized Child Support Guidelines form and Child Support Income Statement/Affidavit which we provide. See “Montana Child Support Calculator” on any search engine such as Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.
CUSTODY:
You may have Joint Legal Custody or Sole Legal Custody. This determines how the decisions are made regarding the raising of the child(ren).
Physical custody may be with one residential parent or “SPLIT CUSTODY” where the child(ren) live a substantial time with each parent.
VISITATION:
This can be any program agreed upon by the parties and may change from time to time. If the parties cannot agree then the state guidelines are in effect. State guidelines are outlined in the MSA provided with your documents. You do not need to list your present visitation agreement as it will change from time to time but you may if you wish. “No Visitation” or “Restricted Visitation” may be requested by supplying the reason on the questionnaire.
COURT ADDRESSES:
You must file the divorce documents in the Circuit Court in the county that you are filing in. Some court addresses for larger counties are as follows:
Lewis and Clark County District Court:228 Broadway St., Helena, MT 59601-4263 Phone: 406-447-8216 Fax: 406-447-8421
Cascade County District Court: 415 2nd Ave. North, Great Falls, MT 59401 Phone: 406-454-6780 Fax: 406-454-6907
Missoula County District Court: 200 West Broadway, Missoula, MT 59802-4292 Phone: 406-258-4780 Fax: 406-258-4899
Yellowstone County District Court: 217 N. 27th Street, Billings, MT 59107 Phone: 406-256-2851 Fax: 406-256-2995
Gallatin County District Court: 615 South 16th, Room 302, Bozeman, MT 59715-4107 Phone: 406-582-2165 Fax: 406-582-2176
FILING FEES:
The court filing fees for a divorce in Montana is approximately $350.
If your spouse won't sign and must be served, then the sheriff may charge a fee of around $25 to serve your spouse.
If you don't know the whereabouts of your spouse, then your spouse will need to be served by publication. The average publication fee is approximately $75.
You may call the Clerk of the Court in your county to determine the exact fees in your county.
METHODS OF SERVICE:
1. The most common way is to have your spouse sign the documents AFTER you have filed the complaint with the court. You can hand deliver the documents , mail them or have a third party deliver them to your spouse. This method is available even though your spouse is incarcerated.
2. If your spouse will not sign or you not not sure if your spouse will sign then you can get service by having the sheriff in spouse’s county serve a copy of the filed documents along with other documents requiring spouse’s signature. You can contact the sheriff in any state to serve your spouse. You can also get service by Certified Mail, (Return Receipt Requested) if your spouse lives out of state. If your spouse is incarcerated then you can get service by having the prison/jail officials serve your spouse.
3. Service by publication. If you cannot find your spouse after a diligent search then you can publish. The publication fee for the newspaper is approximately $65 but varies for different counties. Upon the filing of the Affidavit the clerk shall direct that service of notice be made by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the complaint is filed. We provide all the required documents for service by publication.
Go to our questionnaire and get started today.
