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State guide · VT

Vermont Family Court: Custody and Parenting-Time Guide

Plain-language Vermont information for a custody or parenting-time route, including filing, official forms, free help, fee waivers, and legal-cost context.

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This page provides general legal information, not legal advice. State law, court rules, forms, and local procedures can change. Confirm current requirements with the court handling the case.

State laws, court rules, and forms can change. Automated link checks will run every week once the monitoring job is deployed. Please check each cited source before relying on it. Report a broken link or changed law.

Find the right family court

The custody or parenting-time route described in this guide is handled through the Vermont Superior Court Family Division. Other family-law matters can follow a different court or procedure.

Find the court for your area.

  • Vermont Judiciary identifies the Family Division as the court division for parentage matters and links its parentage materials there.Sources:Family Division, Parentage

How Vermont courts decide custody

Vermont law defines legal responsibility as major child-welfare decisions other than routine care, and physical responsibility as routine daily care and control.Sources:15 V.S.A. 664 Definitions

Key legal sources

Parenting time

Vermont calls time a child spends with a parent parent-child contact; the Judiciary also calls it parent-time or visitation.Sources:Parental Rights and Responsibilities and Parent-Child Contact

Key legal sources

How to file

This draft covers an unrepresented parent starting a non-stipulated Vermont parentage case to seek initial parental-rights-and-responsibilities and parent-child-contact orders. It excludes divorce, legal separation, civil-union dissolution, stipulated starts, modification, enforcement, emergency, relief-from-abuse, adoption, guardianship, juvenile, and interstate matters.Sources:Parentage

  1. Prepare the initial parentage forms

    For this unrepresented-parent route, Vermont Judiciary lists the Information Sheet (400-00800), Summons and Verified Complaint to Establish Parentage and/or Related Obligations (400-00817), Statement of Confidential Information (400-00849), and Notice of Appearance for Self-Represented Party (400-00831). Include a copy of a voluntary acknowledgment only if one was signed, and use the supplemental information sheet when the complaint says it is required.Sources:Parentage, Summons and Verified Complaint to Establish Parentage and or Related Obligations

  2. File in the correct Family Division unit

    The Judiciary directs a parentage filer to the Family Division of the Superior Court in the county where either party lives; it lists in-person, mail, and email filing options. Pay the required filing fee or ask the court to consider a fee waiver.Sources:Parentage, Application to Waive Filing Fees and Service Costs

  3. Follow the service instructions for this new case

    Vermont Judiciary says the court handles service in most parentage cases. Its Family Division service page says service requirements to begin a case can be stricter than later service and identifies the proof needed for each listed method; a stipulated service option is outside this non-stipulated route.Sources:Parentage, Serving Papers in Family Division Cases

  4. Complete the required financial affidavit for the new parentage case

    Form 400-00813S says a party in a newly filed parentage case must complete and file it before or at the first case manager conference, or at least seven days before the first scheduled hearing if no conference is scheduled. It also directs a copy to the other party when filed.Sources:Financial Affidavit Non-Divorce

Official forms

Open the official forms portal.

  • The Vermont Judiciary parentage page is the route-specific statewide form source. Its starting-a-case list is distinct from the additional forms for a stipulated case and from later motions.Sources:Parentage

Free court self-help

Find court self-help near you.

  • Legal Services Vermont

    Area served: Vermont

    Works with Vermont Legal Aid to provide free civil legal help to eligible Vermonters.Sources:How to Get Help

    Eligibility: Help is limited to eligible Vermonters; confirm current family-matter availability with the provider.

  • Vermont Legal Aid

    Area served: Vermont

    Provides information about its current intake process for listed civil legal problems.Sources:How To Get Help

    Eligibility: Use the provider's current intake process to confirm issue coverage, eligibility, and available capacity.

Fee waivers

Vermont Judiciary says a person filing a court case must pay the filing fee or ask to have it waived; the court clerk reviews the application and reports whether the request is granted.Sources:Application to Waive Filing Fees and Service Costs

Who may qualify

What to do

  1. File the current fee-waiver form if it applies

    Complete Form 600-00228 Application to Waive Filing Fees and Service Costs and file it with the court at the same time as the other case forms if a waiver is requested. The official page says incomplete forms may be returned.Sources:Application to Waive Filing Fees and Service Costs, Application to Waive Filing Fees and Service Costs Form 600-00228

Official fee-waiver forms

Key statute or rule

Attorney cost benchmark

Lawyer fees vary by county, experience, services, and the facts of a case. This state benchmark is context for planning, not a quote.

State and local details to confirm

Part of Family Law in Your State.