42-7-102. Limitations on payment of certain fees, MCA

Montana Code Annotated 2023

TITLE 42. ADOPTION

CHAPTER 7. FEES AND PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES RELATED TO ADOPTION

Part 1. General Fees and Activities

Limitations On Payment Of Certain Fees

42-7-102. Limitations on payment of certain fees. (1) A prospective adoptive parent may pay counseling expenses for a combined maximum of 10 hours of adoptive decision support services provided pursuant to 42-2-409 and postadoptive counseling provided pursuant to 42-4-211.

(2) A prospective adoptive parent may pay cost-sharing expenses for prenatal or postnatal outpatient mental health services provided to the birth mother. Expenses under this subsection are limited to a total of 15 outpatient mental health counseling sessions during the prenatal period and the 5 years following the birth of the child.

(3) A prospective adoptive parent may pay for legal costs entailed for providing legal counsel for one birth parent unless the birth parents elect joint representation. The right of a relinquishing parent to legal counsel paid by the prospective adoptive parent continues only until the relinquishment becomes irrevocable. An attorney may not represent both a birth parent and a prospective adoptive parent.

History: En. Sec. 148, Ch. 480, L. 1997; amd. Sec. 10, Ch. 175, L. 2021.