Montana Caretaker Relative Educational Authorization Affidavit

What This Affidavit Does

The Caretaker Relative Educational Authorization Affidavit is Montana's out-of-court tool for getting a relative child enrolled in school when the parent isn't available to handle it. It's codified at MCA 20-5-503, and the form is printed in subsection (9). An affidavit is invalid unless it substantially follows that form and contains the required bold-caps warning about penalties for false swearing.

Once properly executed and delivered to the school district, this affidavit supports enrollment under MCA 20-5-502 and gives you the same authority as a custodial parent to discuss the child's educational progress with educators, consent to educational services, and consent to related medical care. A grandparent or other caregiver acting in the absence of a parent may also be considered a "parent" under FERPA and may have education-record access rights. The affidavit does not give you legal custody.

Who Qualifies

You must be at least 18 and related to the child by blood, marriage, or adoption. That includes grandparents, aunts, uncles, adult siblings, first cousins, and great-grandparents. Parents, stepparents, foster parents, and legal guardians are excluded — they already have authority through other channels. Family friends and non-relatives cannot use this affidavit; they need a parental Power of Attorney under MCA 72-5-103 or a court-ordered guardianship.

The child must live with you full-time. The affidavit also requires that a parent left the child with you without a definite return date and that no adequate provision (like an existing guardianship or POA) covers the child's education. For enrollment under MCA 20-5-502, you must additionally be unable to contact either parent after the voluntary placement, or be able to contact a parent who is unable or unwilling to regain custody.

How to Complete It

The statutory form in MCA 20-5-503(9) is the template. You print it, fill in the legal names, dates of birth, your physical address, and the specific blood/marriage/adoption relationship connecting you to the child. Then you check each attestation box — full-time residency, parental absence, no prior legal arrangement.

You sign it under oath in front of a Montana notary public. The parent does not sign. Banks, UPS stores, and county clerk offices all offer notary services, usually for a small fee.

Delivering It and What Happens Next

Bring the notarized original or a clear copy to the school district's admissions office. The district will also want proof of your address within district boundaries (utility bill, lease, property tax statement), the child's birth certificate or other proof of age, immunization records, and any transcripts from the child's previous school.

Under MCA 20-5-502, the district cannot charge tuition to a caretaker relative living within its boundaries. And under MCA 20-1-213, the child's previous school must forward records within five working days of a written or electronic request; outstanding fines at the old school cannot block that transfer.

How Long It Lasts

The educational affidavit is valid until the earliest of three events: the end of the first school year after you deliver it to the district, revocation by you, or the child no longer living with you. If the arrangement continues past one school year, you execute a fresh affidavit before the next year starts.

Provider Protection

School administrators sometimes hesitate because they're unsure about liability. MCA 20-5-503 addresses this directly: a public or private entity or individual who relies in good faith on a properly executed affidavit and has no actual knowledge of facts contrary to it is shielded from civil or criminal liability and professional discipline. Pointing staff to this statutory immunity language usually resolves resistance.

If a school still refuses, escalate to the district superintendent or legal counsel. The Montana Kinship Navigator Program (833-445-3395) and Montana Legal Services Association (1-800-666-6899) both assist with institutional refusals.

Our Montana School and Medical Consent guide includes the complete affidavit walkthrough, a decision tree for choosing between the affidavit and other instruments, and scripts for handling school resistance.

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