Montana Legislature Directs Review of Family Law and Domestic Relations Matters

At the direction of the Montana Legislature, the Montana Law and Justice Interim Committee met last month with the objective of finding ways to improve the Montana family court and domestic relations proceedings. To facilitate their analysis, the committee plans to examine three issues in particular: the current cost and efficiency of the Montana family court system, family law models successfully used in other states, and measures needed to improve the administration of justice and the non-adversarial resolution of family court matters in Montana. Between June 2013 and January 2014, the committee aims to hold panels to survey stakeholders in the court system (judges, staff, attorneys, and others) to expand on the identified issues, present staff papers that summarize the current law and cost of the Montana system, and deliver presentations on models used in other states. Looking forward, the committee will identify further issues from January 2014 to April 2014, and their work will culminate with decisions as to legislative options in mid-2014.

Katherine Kirk is a third year law student at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and contributes to IAALS Online. Please direct inquiries about this post to iaals@du.edu.