https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/maya-tools
It could be risky learning a new set of tools on a tight time constraint, but I feel it will be worth it.
Epic games have provided a video series to help get to grips with it, which is what I will be using on this project.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZlv_N0_O1gb2ZoKzTApbv3LvhaXJ9elg
First you set the parameters for the skeleton, then set up the proxy bones to fit your model.
Then you generate the skeleton and rig and paint weights onto the character to assign the bone influences.
Then you can generate the Bind/T-pose for the model.
And then it's ready for animating, with handles and IK/FK joints already set up.
