Legal Question in Family Law in Montana

Re: What do I do?

My first question sounds flippant, but I am serious. Your children will "do without" what? If this modification is necessary to their best interests in the long run, perhaps they can do without for the short term (especially if they want the modification and know they're doing without so you can pay for it).

Second, do not just ignore the court's order. The court gets just as mad at you when you ignore it as you get when your kids ignore you. Usually the order says you have X days to comply. That gives you time to file a motion saying you would comply but you lack the necessary money, the evaluator won't proceed without advance payment, the other parent can afford to pay your share (if it's true), please order other parent to immediately pay your share so the evaluation can go forward. If other parent can't afford it either, file the same motion but ask if the court can appoint someone who will work on a pro bono, sliding fee scale, or payment plan basis.

But let me caution you, lawyers and judges hear "I can't afford it" all the time. A lot of times, "I can't afford it" really means "I've bought so much stuff on credit that my payments are too high for me to also pay the evaluator." If you tell the court you can't afford it, it had better be accurate -- if you trash your credibility, the judge is not likely to believe you on other matters. If you have relatives who have been saying, "those poor kids ought to be living with you," now is the time for them to pony up some money to lend you. If you can show the court that you are legitimately unable to pay, but you're trying as best you can, and you've managed to scrape up $X, perhaps the court will ask the evaluator to set up a payment plan so you can get the rest of the evaluation finished.