Legal Question in Family Law in Montana

Re: Family trouble

I'm going to take a wild guess. About five months ago, the Child Support Enforcement Division (CSED) began garnishing this fellow's wages for child support.

This is the most common response I hear when an absent parent is suddenly threatening to seek custody of the child.

But that wasn't your question.

Yes, it is possible that an absent parent can obtain physical custody of a child who doesn't know the absent parent. But it is unlikely that an absent parent will prevail.

Based on both parents' testimony, their witnesses, and evidence presented, the court needs to decide: (1) something is going on in the residential parent's home, and

(2) that 'something' is detrimental to the child's best interest, and

(3) uprooting the child and removing him/her to the absent parent's home is better than leaving the child where s/he is.

Can this child's absent parent convince the court?