A Montana divorce petition (formally, a petition for dissolution of marriage) must be verified, must allege that the marriage is irretrievably broken, and must set forth the eight items listed in MCA § 40-4-105(1). Those items cover who the spouses are, the marriage, the children, any support arrangements, a proposed parenting plan, the relief you want, and an acknowledgment of the automatic economic restraining order. This page is part of the filing section of our Montana Divorce Guide.
The Eight Required Items
The list below follows the statute's own lettering. Court forms and attorney-drafted petitions are organized differently, but each of these has to appear somewhere.
| § 40-4-105(1) | What the petition must set forth |
|---|---|
| (a) | The age, occupation, and residence of each spouse, and how long each has lived in Montana |
| (b) | The date of the marriage and the place where it was registered |
| (c) | That the jurisdictional requirements of § 40-4-104 exist, and that the marriage is irretrievably broken because either (i) you have lived separate and apart for more than 180 days before the case begins, or (ii) there is serious marital discord that adversely affects the attitude of one or both of you toward the marriage, and no reasonable prospect of reconciliation |
| (d) | The names, ages, and addresses of all living children of the marriage, and whether the wife is pregnant |
| (e) | Any arrangements as to support of the children and maintenance of a spouse |
| (f) | A proposed parenting plan, if applicable |
| (g) | The relief sought |
| (h) | Your acknowledgment that the automatic economic restraining order in § 40-4-126 applies to you when the petition is filed with the clerk |
The pregnancy item is quoted in the statute's words. A child born during the case is a child the court has to provide for, which is the practical reason the question is asked.
Jurisdiction and the Broken Marriage
Item (c) does two jobs. First, it states that the court has power to hear the case. Under MCA § 40-4-104(1)(a), that means one spouse was domiciled in Montana, or stationed here in the armed services, for the 90 days before filing. Our page on the residency requirement explains it.
Second, it states why the marriage is irretrievably broken, using one of two alternatives. You do not need both. A couple that has not lived apart for 180 days can still file on the basis of serious marital discord. Separation is not a precondition.
If the other spouse denies under oath that the marriage is broken, the court considers the circumstances and the prospect of reconciliation, and either makes a finding or continues the matter for 30 to 60 days and may suggest counseling (MCA § 40-4-107(2)). A denial does not give one spouse a veto. Our page on whether a spouse can refuse a divorce covers that situation.
Children, Support, and the Proposed Parenting Plan
Items (d), (e), and (f) tell the court about the children. You list each living child of the marriage by name, age, and address. You describe any arrangements already in place for child support and for maintenance (the statutory word for alimony). And you attach a proposed parenting plan.
Montana's statutes speak of parenting plans, not custody and visitation. A separate section, MCA § 40-4-234, requires each parent, or both jointly, to submit a proposed final parenting plan in good faith in every dissolution that involves a child. The plan you file with the petition is your opening proposal. Our page on what a parenting plan must include goes deeper.
The Relief Sought
Item (g) is where you say what you want the court to order: that the marriage be dissolved, how property and debt should be divided, whether either spouse should pay maintenance, the parenting plan, child support, and anything else, such as restoring a former name. On request, the court must restore a spouse's maiden, birth, or former name (MCA § 40-4-108(5)).
This section matters more than it looks. If the other spouse never responds and the case ends by default, the rules say a default judgment "must not differ in kind from, or exceed in amount, what is demanded in the pleadings" (M. R. Civ. P. 54(c)). A request left out of the petition may not be available in a default divorce.
The Restraining Order Acknowledgment
Item (h) is your acknowledgment that the automatic economic restraining order applies to you the moment the petition is filed. The clerk attaches that order to the summons. It restricts both spouses from disposing of marital property, changing beneficiaries, canceling insurance, and similar acts while the case is pending (MCA § 40-4-126). Read it before you file, not after.
Verification and Privacy
Because the petition is verified, you are vouching for every statement in it. Guessing at dates, addresses, or lengths of residence is not a good idea. Check them.
The rules limit what personal data goes into a court filing. A filing that contains a Social Security number, taxpayer identification number, birth date, or financial account number may include only the last four digits of the number and only the year of birth (M. R. Civ. P. 5.2(a)). The dissolution statute repeats that documents with financial account information must comply with that rule (MCA § 40-4-105(7)). A person who files their own information unredacted waives the protection (M. R. Civ. P. 5.2(g)(1)).
The statute also provides that a party's Social Security number, if known, is recorded in the records of the matter and kept confidential by the recordkeeper, with an exception for child support administration (MCA § 40-4-105(6)). Ask the clerk of district court how your county collects that number so that it is not written into the petition itself.
After the Petition Is Filed
Filing opens the case and starts the restraining order for you. It does not start any clock for your spouse. That happens on service. The next steps are in our overview of how to file for divorce in Montana and our page on serving divorce papers.
This page explains Montana law in general as of the 2025 Montana Code Annotated. It is not legal advice about your specific case.