What if the biological parent sends a gift but has no other contact — is that abandonment in Montana?

A gift on its own does not give you a clear yes or no in Montana: whether it counts as abandonment is for the District Court to decide, using Mont. Code Ann. § 42-2-608, which sets an abandonment period of 6 months. The right answer for your family depends on the full picture of what the biological parent has and hasn't done, not on the gift alone.

Why the gift question is not simple: A gift is one piece of a larger history. What matters is what else happened during that 6-month period and how the judge views it all together. Whether a gift interrupts or satisfies the period is a point to confirm with the District Court clerk in your county or with a family law attorney who knows your judge.

What to write down now: Whatever the answer on the gift, a clear record helps. Gather the facts while they are fresh:

• The date of the gift, what it was, and who it was addressed to
• Every other contact you can recall, including calls, texts, visits, cards and messages, with approximate dates
• Any child support or other financial help, and when it was last received
• Your own attempts to keep the other parent informed or involved, if any
• Anything the parent said about their intentions toward the child

Keep any screenshots, envelopes, postmarks or messages. A dated, factual timeline is much easier for a court to work with than general impressions.

Situations that call for individual advice: If the biological parent is likely to contest the adoption, or if you are not sure where the parent is or whether they are involved at all, get advice on that specific issue from an attorney or the District Court clerk. These situations depend heavily on the facts, and general information cannot settle them.

What to expect on timing: Stepparent adoptions in Montana typically take about 3-6 months. Montana has no minimum residency period before you can file. The clerk in your county can tell you the current filing fee, local forms and how your court schedules hearings.

How we help: StepParent Adoption 360 is a document preparation service, not a law firm. You answer questions online, and we prepare the complete court document package for your county. That includes an abandonment affidavit built around the timeline you give us, gift included. You then file it yourself without an attorney. The cost is $349 for the first child and $99 for each additional child. Court-ready documents arrive within 24-48 hours after you finish the questions, and our 100% court acceptance guarantee applies. We have helped 151 Montana families, and more than 34,000 families nationally since 2001.