Child Custody in Vermont

Dividing or sharing parental rights and responsibilities

Under 15 V.S.A. 665(a), a Vermont court handling a divorce or parentage case must issue an order concerning parental rights and responsibilities for any minor child. The court can divide or share those rights and responsibilities between the parents on terms that serve the child's best interest. If the parents cannot agree to divide or share parental rights and responsibilities, the statute directs the court to award them primarily or solely to one parent. The court should not impose a shared arrangement that neither parent has proposed or agreed to.

The nine best-interest factors

15 V.S.A. 665(b) lists the factors a Vermont court must consider. These include the child's relationship with each parent and each parent's ability and disposition to provide love, affection, and guidance; each parent's ability to assure adequate food, clothing, medical care, and a safe environment; and each parent's ability to meet the child's present and future developmental needs.

Other factors are the quality of the child's adjustment to current housing, school, and community, and the potential effect of a change; and each parent's ability to foster a positive relationship and frequent, continuing contact with the other parent, including physical contact, except where that contact would harm the child or a parent.

The court also weighs the quality of the child's relationship with the primary care provider, where relevant to the child's age and development; the child's relationship with any other person who may significantly affect the child; and the parents' ability to communicate, cooperate, and make joint decisions where rights and responsibilities are to be shared or divided.

Finally, the court considers evidence of abuse, as Vermont law defines it, and the impact of that abuse on the child and on the child's relationship with the abusing parent.

No preference based on sex or financial resources

15 V.S.A. 665(c) is explicit on this point. A Vermont court cannot apply a preference for one parent over the other based on the sex of the child, the sex of a parent, or a parent's financial resources. This keeps the best-interest analysis focused on the substantive factors in subsection (b) rather than status-based assumptions about which parent is naturally better suited to have primary responsibility.

Sexual assault and forced relationships

Vermont's custody statute also reflects a specific policy protecting survivors of sexual assault or exploitation. It recognizes that the state has a compelling interest: a parental rights and responsibilities order should not force a victim of sexual assault or sexual exploitation into an ongoing relationship with the person who assaulted or exploited them. A parent with this kind of safety concern should raise it directly with the court, and with an advocate if needed. Vermont law treats this as a distinct interest, separate from the general best-interest factors.

Where a Vermont custody case is filed and getting help

Vermont custody, or parental rights and responsibilities, matters are heard in the Family Division of the Vermont Superior Court. The Vermont Judiciary's self-help center publishes resources on divorce and parentage, including information relevant to parental rights and responsibilities cases, for parents who are representing themselves. Vermont's statute references the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act for cases with connections to more than one state. A parent involved in a multi-state custody situation should confirm which state has jurisdiction before filing.