A no contact order can require you to leave your home and stay away from it, but it does not decide who owns the home, who is on the lease, or who pays the bills. Those are civil questions. They are answered by the people involved, or by a district court in a dissolution or parenting case. Until a court makes orders about money, your existing obligations continue. This page explains which order does what. It is part of our Montana Domestic Violence Guide.
What a No Contact Order Actually Covers
The criminal no contact order statute lets a court prohibit the defendant from contacting the protected person in person, through a third party, by telephone, by electronic communication, and in writing, and impose up to a 1,500-foot restriction to stay away from the protected person's location (MCA § 45-5-209(1)). A release order can add restrictions on your "place of abode" (MCA § 46-9-108(1)(d)).
That is the whole reach of it. Nothing in § 45-5-209 mentions title, leases, bank accounts, vehicles, or support. If the protected person lives in the home you share, the practical result is that you cannot be there, even if your name is the only one on the deed. But your ownership interest, your lease, and your debts are where they were the day before. For housing options, see where can I live.
What an Order of Protection Adds
A civil order of protection can reach property more directly. Among the relief a court may include (MCA § 40-15-201(2)):
- removing and excluding the respondent from the petitioner's residence, "regardless of ownership of the residence";
- prohibiting the respondent from "transferring, encumbering, concealing, or otherwise disposing of any property except in the usual course of business or for the necessities of life";
- directing the transfer of possession and use of the residence, an automobile, and other essential personal property, again regardless of ownership; and
- directing a law enforcement officer to accompany the petitioner to the residence or to supervise either party's removal of essential personal property.
These are orders about possession and use while the order lasts. They are not a division of property. The table shows which order can address which issue.
| Issue | Criminal no contact order | Order of protection | Temporary orders in a dissolution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Staying away from the home | Yes, through contact and distance terms (45-5-209(1)) | Yes, exclusion from the residence regardless of ownership (40-15-201(2)(e)) | Yes, on a showing that physical or emotional harm would otherwise result (40-4-121(2)(c)) |
| Who owns the home | No | No | Decided in the final decree, not in a temporary order (40-4-202) |
| Use of a vehicle or essential property | Not addressed in the statute | Yes, regardless of ownership (40-15-201(2)(h)) | Yes, as other injunctive relief proper in the circumstances (40-4-121(2)(f)) |
| Who pays which bills | No | Not listed | Yes, a temporary family support order (40-4-121(1)) |
| Child support | No | Not listed in 40-15-201 | Yes, temporary child support under the guidelines (40-4-121(1)) |
| Selling or hiding assets | No | Yes, a restraint on transferring or disposing of property (40-15-201(2)(g)) | Yes, the automatic economic restraining order (40-4-126) |
Temporary Orders in a Dissolution
If you are married, the place to get money questions answered is the dissolution case. Either party may move for temporary maintenance, temporary child support, or a temporary family support order. The motion needs an affidavit with the factual basis, the amounts requested, a list of marital liabilities, and a statement of income sources. A family support order directs one or both parties to pay the liabilities of the marital estate out of certain income sources while the case is pending (MCA § 40-4-121(1)).
The same statute allows a temporary injunction that excludes a party from the family home "upon a showing that physical or emotional harm would otherwise result," or that modifies the economic restraints (MCA § 40-4-121(2)). The party against whom an injunction is sought is entitled to notice and a hearing, and may respond within 21 days (MCA § 40-4-121(5)).
Unmarried parents do not have a marital estate to divide, but a parenting case can address the residential schedule and child support. See divorce during a PFMA case.
The Automatic Economic Restraining Order
When a dissolution petition is filed, the clerk issues an automatic economic restraining order with the summons. It binds the petitioner on filing and the respondent on service (MCA § 40-4-126(1)). Among other things, both parties are restrained from:
- transferring, encumbering, concealing, or disposing of marital property without the other party's written consent or a court order, except for the necessities of life, the usual course of an existing business, or reasonable professional fees;
- canceling jointly held credit cards or ending the other party's signing authority;
- changing beneficiaries on life insurance or other accounts; and
- canceling or letting lapse property, life, auto, or health insurance that covers the parties or the children.
The order allows spending to reasonably maintain the marital standard of living, "taking into consideration additional living expenses arising out of a party obtaining a second household." That clause matters when a no contact order has forced one spouse to rent a second place.
Child Support Does Not Pause
A parent's duty to support a child is set without regard to marital misconduct, using the uniform child support guidelines (MCA § 40-4-204(1) and (3)). Being barred from the home does not suspend an existing support order. A parent's knowing failure to financially support a child the parent is able to support is also a parenting factor that counts against that parent (MCA § 40-4-212(1)(k)).
If there is no support order yet, keep contributing to your children's needs in a way that leaves a record and requires no contact with a protected person, and ask a lawyer about getting a temporary order in place.
Paying Bills Without Violating the Order
- Pay creditors directly rather than sending money to the protected person.
- Do not add messages to payments, memo lines, or payment app notes. A note is a communication.
- Do not open or divert the other person's mail or email. The automatic economic restraining order in a dissolution specifically restrains that (MCA § 40-4-126(1)).
- Do not cancel utilities, phones, or insurance at the home.
- Keep records of every payment.
- Route any question about a bill through your lawyer.
Money is often the thing that tempts people to make "just one call." The order has no exception for it. Our page on what counts as contact explains the limits.
If the Case Ends in a Conviction
A person convicted of PFMA must be ordered to pay the victim's reasonable actual medical, housing, wage loss, and counseling costs (MCA § 45-5-206(5)). See restitution and court costs. That is separate from anything a family court orders about support or property.
This page explains Montana law in general as of the 2025 Montana Code Annotated. It is not legal advice about your specific case.