Montana Medical Consent for Grandparents and Relatives

The Medical Authorization Affidavit

Montana gives relatives a specific statutory tool for healthcare consent: the Caretaker Relative Medical Authorization Affidavit under MCA 40-6-502. It lets you consent to a child's routine medical care without a court order and without the parent's signature.

The affidavit covers outpatient care that children actually need on a regular basis — wellness visits, immunizations, dental cleanings and fillings, vision exams, prescription medications, diagnostic lab work, and outpatient mental health counseling. It does not cover major surgery, inpatient psychiatric admission, organ donation, or consent to marriage or adoption. Those require either direct parental consent or a court-appointed guardianship.

Who Can Execute It

You must be 18 or older and related to the child by blood, marriage, or adoption. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, adult siblings, first cousins, and great-grandparents all qualify. The parent must have voluntarily left the child with you without a definite return date, the child must live with you full-time, and no adequate provision may already cover the child's medical care. You must also be unable to locate or contact the parent to notify them of your intended authorization, or the parent must refuse to regain custody after you ask in writing.

Family friends and non-relatives cannot use this affidavit. If you're a family friend caring for a child, you need the parent to sign a Minor Power of Attorney under MCA 72-5-103, or you need a court-ordered guardianship.

How to Complete and Use It

The affidavit form is printed in MCA 40-6-502(9) — use a form that substantially follows it and includes the required bold-caps warning about false swearing. Fill in your name, the child's name and date of birth, your address, and how you're related. Check the attestation boxes and sign before a Montana notary public.

Deliver copies to every healthcare provider the child sees: pediatrician, dentist, pharmacy, eye doctor, and any specialist. Keep the notarized original safe.

The Six-Month Expiration

Unlike the educational affidavit, the medical affidavit lasts for up to six months after signing. It ends earlier if you revoke it or the child no longer lives with you. Mark the date. When it lapses, providers can refuse care until you execute a fresh one.

This means you'll go through the notarization process twice a year for as long as the child lives with you under this arrangement. It's a small administrative burden, but missing it can delay a child's doctor appointment or prescription refill.

What Happens When a Parent Disagrees

If a parent directly communicates a medical decision to a healthcare provider, the parent's decision overrides yours — even with a valid affidavit on file. The exception is when the parent's decision endangers the child's life (MCA 40-6-502(3)).

This is important context for situations where a parent is partially involved. The affidavit gives you authority when the parent isn't present and engaged, but it doesn't trump an active parental decision.

Provider Liability Protection

Healthcare providers who act in good faith on a properly executed affidavit and have no actual knowledge of facts contrary to it are shielded from civil and criminal liability under the statute. If a doctor's office hesitates to accept your affidavit, pointing them to MCA 40-6-502's immunity language usually resolves it. For persistent refusals, contact the Montana Kinship Navigator Program at 833-445-3395.

Financial Responsibility

Signing the medical affidavit does not make you the guarantor for the child's medical bills. Providers should bill existing coverage — Healthy Montana Kids (CHIP/Medicaid), private insurance, or other plans. Be careful with intake paperwork at clinics: the medical consent signature and a financial guarantee signature are different documents. Review what you're signing.

The Montana School and Medical Consent guide walks through the medical affidavit step by step, including what to do when a provider refuses it and how to connect the child to Healthy Montana Kids coverage.

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