Montana Code 40-6-114. Pretrial recommendations
40-6-114. Pretrial recommendations. (1) On the basis of the information produced at the pretrial hearing, the judge or referee conducting the hearing shall evaluate the probability of determining the existence or nonexistence of the father and child relationship in a trial and whether a judicial declaration of the relationship would be in the best interest of the child. On the basis of the evaluation, an appropriate recommendation for settlement must be made to the parties, which may include any of the following:
Terms Used In Montana Code 40-6-114
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
(a)that the action be dismissed with or without prejudice;
(b)that the matter be compromised by an agreement among the alleged father, the mother, and the child, in which the father and child relationship is not determined but in which a defined economic obligation is undertaken by the alleged father in favor of the child and, if appropriate, in favor of the mother, subject to approval by the judge or referee conducting the hearing. In reviewing the obligation undertaken by the alleged father in a compromise agreement, the judge or referee conducting the hearing shall consider the best interest of the child in the light of the factors enumerated in 40-6-116(5), discounted by the improbability, as it appears to the judge or referee, of establishing the alleged father’s paternity or nonpaternity of the child in a trial of the action. In the best interest of the child, the court may order that the alleged father’s identity be kept confidential. In that case, the court may designate a person or agency to receive from the alleged father and disburse on behalf of the child all amounts paid by the alleged father in fulfillment of obligations imposed on the alleged father.
(c)that the alleged father voluntarily acknowledge paternity of the child.
(2)If the parties accept a recommendation made in accordance with subsection (1), judgment must be entered accordingly.
(3)If a party refuses to accept a recommendation made under subsection (1) and paternity tests have not been taken, the court shall require the parties to submit to paternity tests, if practicable. Thereafter, the judge or referee shall make an appropriate final recommendation. If a party refuses to accept the final recommendation, the action must be set for trial.
(4)If the scientific evidence resulting from the paternity tests conclusively shows that the defendant could not have been the father, then the action must be dismissed.
(5)The guardian ad litem may accept or refuse to accept a recommendation under this section.
(6)The informal hearing may be terminated and the action set for trial if the judge or referee conducting the hearing finds unlikely that all parties would accept a recommendation made under subsection (1) or (3).