Montana § 42-4-201 Factors To Be Considered -- Best Interests Of Child

Montana Statutes

§ 42-4-201 — Factors To Be Considered -- Best Interests Of Child

Montana § 42-4-201

Title 42ADOPTION

Ch. 4PLACEMENTS FOR ADOPTION

Part 2Placements by Department or Licensed Child-Placing Agency

This text of Montana § 42-4-201 (Factors To Be Considered -- Best Interests Of Child) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Montana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Mont. Code Ann. § 42-4-201 (2026).

Text

42-4-201 . Factors to be considered -- best interests of child.

(1)All relevant factors must be considered in determining the best interests of the child in an adoption proceeding. Factors relevant to the determination of a prospective adoptive parent's parenting ability, the future security for a child, and familial stability must be considered. In determining the best interests of the child, the following factors with regard to a prospective adoptive parent may be considered:

(a)age, as it relates to health, earning capacity, provisions for the support of a child, or other relevant circumstances;

(b)marital status, as it relates to the ability to serve as a parent in particularized circumstances; and

(c)religion, as it relates to the ability to provide the child with an opportunity f

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

42-4-201 . Factors to be considered -- best interests of child. (1) All relevant factors must be considered in determining the best interests of the child in an adoption proceeding. Factors relevant to the determination of a prospective adoptive parent's parenting ability, the future security for a child, and familial stability must be considered. In determining the best interests of the child, the following factors with regard to a prospective adoptive parent may be considered:
(a) age, as it relates to health, earning capacity, provisions for the support of a child, or other relevant circumstances;
(b) marital status, as it relates to the ability to serve as a parent in particularized circumstances; and
(c) religion, as it relates to the ability to provide the child with an opportunity for religious or spiritual and ethical development and as it relates to the express preference of a birth parent or a child to be placed with an adoptive parent of a particular religious faith or denomination.
(2) For purposes of ensuring that the best interests of the child are met, the department or a licensed child-placing agency is authorized to gather and use, in an appropriate, nonarbitrary manner, information concerning the age, marital status, and religious beliefs of a prospective adoptive parent. The authority granted by this subsection includes the authority to receive and to consider, consistent with the best interests of the child, the preferences of birth parents relating to the age, marital status, or religious beliefs of an adoptive parent.
(3) Consideration of religious factors by a licensed child-placing agency that is affiliated with a particular religious faith is not arbitrary consideration of religion within the meaning of this section.