Montana Code Annotated 1995

MCA ContentsSearchPart Contents


     40-6-105. Presumption of paternity. (1) A person is presumed to be the natural father of a child if any of the following occur:
     (a) the person and the child's natural mother are or have been married to each other and the child is born during the marriage or within 300 days after the marriage is terminated by death, annulment, declaration of invalidity, or divorce or after a decree of separation is entered by a court;
     (b) before the child's birth, the person and the child's natural mother have attempted to marry each other by a marriage solemnized in apparent compliance with law, although the attempted marriage is or could be declared invalid, and:
     (i) if the attempted marriage could be declared invalid only by a court, the child is born during the attempted marriage or within 300 days after its termination by death, annulment, declaration of invalidity, or divorce; or
     (ii) if the attempted marriage is invalid without a court order, the child is born within 300 days after the termination of cohabitation;
     (c) after the child's birth, the person and the child's natural mother have married or attempted to marry each other by a marriage solemnized in apparent compliance with law, although the attempted marriage is or could be declared invalid, and:
     (i) the child's mother and the child's alleged father have acknowledged the alleged father's paternity of the child in writing in accordance with subsection (1)(e) and the acknowledgment is filed with the department of public health and human services or with the district court for the county where the person resides or for any county where the child support enforcement division of the department of public health and human services maintains a regional office;
     (ii) with the person's consent, the person is named as the child's father on the child's birth certificate; or
     (iii) the person is obligated to support the child under a written voluntary promise or by court order;
     (d) while the child is under the age of majority, the person receives the child into the person's home and openly represents the child to be the person's natural child;
     (e) the child's mother and the child's alleged father acknowledge the alleged father's paternity of the child in a paternity acknowledgment form that is provided by the department of public health and human services and filed with the department or with the district court of the county where the person resides or for any county where the child support enforcement division of the department of public health and human services maintains a regional office. The department of public health and human services or the district court shall accept and file the completed form. As a part of a voluntary acknowledgment process, the department of public health and human services shall provide information to the parents regarding the rights and responsibilities of acknowledging paternity. If another person is presumed under this section to be the child's father, acknowledgment may be effected only with the written consent of the presumed father or after the presumption has been rebutted.
     (f) the scientific evidence resulting from a blood test, whether ordered by a court or administrative agency of competent jurisdiction or agreed to by the parties, shows a 95% or higher statistical probability of paternity.
     (2) An acknowledgment is binding on a parent who executes it, whether or not the parent is a minor.
     (3) A presumption under this section may be rebutted in an appropriate action by a preponderance of the evidence.
     (4) A presumption of paternity established under this section is a sufficient basis for establishing a support order.

     History: En. 61-305 by Sec. 5, Ch. 512, L. 1975; R.C.M. 1947, 61-305; amd. Sec. 7, Ch. 70, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 80, Ch. 418, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 143, Ch. 546, L. 1995.

Previous SectionHelpNext Section
Provided by Montana Legislative Services