Montana Title 40. Family Law § 40-6-114. Pretrial recommendations

(1) On the basis of the information produced at the pretrial hearing, the judge or referee conducting the hearing shall evaluate the probability of determining the existence or nonexistence of the father and child relationship in a trial and whether a judicial declaration of the relationship would be in the best interest of the child. On the basis of the evaluation, an appropriate recommendation for settlement must be made to the parties, which may include any of the following:

(2) If the parties accept a recommendation made in accordance with subsection (1), judgment must be entered accordingly.

(3) If a party refuses to accept a recommendation made under subsection (1) and paternity tests have not been taken, the court shall require the parties to submit to paternity tests, if practicable. Thereafter, the judge or referee shall make an appropriate final recommendation. If a party refuses to accept the final recommendation, the action must be set for trial.

(4) If the scientific evidence resulting from the paternity tests conclusively shows that the defendant could not have been the father, then the action must be dismissed.

(5) The guardian ad litem may accept or refuse to accept a recommendation under this section.

(6) The informal hearing may be terminated and the action set for trial if the judge or referee conducting the hearing finds unlikely that all parties would accept a recommendation made under subsection (1) or (3).