Divorce in Vermont

We provide this information for low-income people who cannot afford to hire lawyers. If you can afford the cost, we advise you to get a lawyer. But, if you cannot afford one, here are some guidelines.

You should try to get a lawyer if your divorce is complicated by:

• property issues such as pensions or real estate
• domestic violence
• interstate custody issues (you and your former partner have children together and live in different states)
• the fact that you have a disability or do not speak English well

You may want to try to do it yourself if:

• you and your spouse have agreed on the terms of the divorce
• you and your spouse can agree on child custody and visitation
• you do not feel that your spouse is a threat and
• you have little property or debts, which you can divide fairly

In most cases, we can only provide telephone advice in Family Court cases.  We cannot do represent you in court.  Very few private attorneys can take divorce cases for free or for a lower fee.  Some private attorneys may do limited representation—for example, they may represent you at only one hearing or only at a mediation—for a smaller fee. 

You can call Vermont Lawyer Referral Service at 1-800-639-7036 to get the name of a local family law attorney.  You can also try:

• Have Justice Will Travel - (for cases in Rutland and Bennington Counties) 1-877-496-8100
• Your local Domestic Violence Program may be able to refer you to an attorney. Call the statewide hotline at 1-800-228-7395.

  
If you are not married but have children, you need to file a parentage action.  

Call Vermont Legal Aid at 1-800-889-2047 if you need help with:

• getting food or shelter
• paying for medical care
• public benefits
• housing issues
• escaping domestic violence
• Federal Tax problems
• foreclosure
• credit card or other debt actions

If you have more questions about how to do your own divorce or need help filling out the court forms, visit your local legal clinic for help.

The next 10 steps will tell you what to do. Not everyone has to do all 10 steps. Remember: Take One Step at a Time.

  
Go to your local Superior Court - Family Division and ask the clerk for a forms packet. Tell the clerk if you are married and if you have children with your spouse. The clerk will give you the right set of forms. The packet also has a page of instructions telling you what to do with the forms.  

You can also get the forms and information online to help you understand the court process. Choose either Divorce with children or Divorce without children.

There is also a program called CourtFormPrep that helps you fill out the forms online. You can get help to:

• start a divorce
• respond to a divorce or
• start a non-resident divorce

Next, you will need to fill out all of the forms you got from the court. The cover sheet at the front of the forms packet (or that you got online) gives you some help. Read it carefully.

Tips:

• If you cannot fill out the forms by yourself, ask the court clerk if there is a Legal Clinic or Legal Assistance Project in your area. A lawyer or paralegal there can help you fill out the forms. Court staff cannot give you legal advice.
• When you file any paper with the court, always mail a copy to the other party, or his or her lawyer, if he or she has one.
• Make a second copy of all your court papers. Put them in a file and keep everything together. Put any papers you get from the other side in the file too. Always keep the file updated. Take it to court each time you go there. You may also want to keep dated notes about what is going on with your case.
• If you are dealing with domestic violence and want to keep your new address confidential from your spouse, contact the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence or Vermont Legal Aid for help.

Getting divorced costs money. You can find a list of court fees online. Here are some of the costs:

Divorce with children - The court serves the papers on the other side by mail.

• Filing fee without a signed agreement: $295.00 + $3.00 service fee = $298.00
• Filing fee with complete agreement, and both parents live in Vermont: $90.00

Divorce without children - You are responsible for serving the divorce papers and the costs of service.

• Filing fee without an agreement: $295.00
• Filing fee with complete agreement: $90.00
• Service Fees: $50-$100

If you have a very low income and cannot pay these costs, you can ask the court to pay them for you. Ask the clerk for an Application to Proceed in Forma Pauperis (IFP). This form is also called a fee waiver form.

On the IFP (fee waiver) form, list all your income and expenses. If you get Reach Up, SSI or general assistance, the court should waive the fees. Contact Vermont Legal Aid if you are denied. If your income is higher, the court will look at your income and expenses and decide whether you qualify for the waiver. You can sometimes get a fee waiver even if you are working.

If you are filing a divorce with children, you file the papers with the court first and the court will serve the papers by mail. Be sure to make a copy for yourself before you file.

If you are filing a divorce without children, you must file the papers with the court and then have them served on your spouse. There are a few different ways to serve your spouse and you should pick one that will work best for you:

1. By hand: If you are on good terms with your spouse, you can hand deliver a copy of the Complaint. You will need to make sure they sign a copy of the Acceptance of Service form
2. By registered mail with return receipt requested
3. By regular mail
4. By the sheriff

The important thing is that the court must receive proof that your spouse has received a copy of the papers.

More Tips:

• After the sheriff serves the other side, he will return the papers to you. The summons will state who was served. There will also be a signed affidavit of service by the sheriff.
• You must file the signed summons and the affidavit with the court as soon as you receive them.
• If you do not serve the other side within 60 days, the court may dismiss the case. If this happens you will have to start over. You may have to pay another filing fee.
• You may not be able to find the other party. If you have made all reasonable efforts but still can't find the other side, the court may let you do "service by publication." However, the Court will not pay for the publication costs.

Important: Notify the court in writing right away if your mailing address or telephone number changes. The court clerk needs to be able to find you. Otherwise you may not get court notices and you may miss court dates.

A few weeks after you file the court papers (and serve them if you do not have children with the other party), the court will send both parties a notice. The notice tells you that a Case Manager Conference has been scheduled. It will give you the date and time of the conference. In some of the busier courts, you may have to wait longer for the notice and meeting date.

Be sure to go to the conference.

The conference is run by a Case Manager. The Case Manager will try to move your case along by:

• Helping you come to an agreement, if you can, about any issues - especially issues that affect your children, like custody, visitation and child support
• Helping you agree on property issues, including dividing up belongings and debts
• Finding out what issues you have not been able to agree upon
• Giving a written order that says what you have agreed on

The notice the court sent that tells you when you have to be in court for the conference will also list all the information you need to bring with you.

If you have children, you will have to bring a completed financial affidavit and other financial documents to the Case Manger Conference. The case manager will run a child support guideline and both parties may agree on child support at the conference.

You do not have to agree to anything at the Case Manager Conference. The case manager is not the judge. You should not feel pressured or rushed into making a decision. This is very important. It can be difficult to change an order that you agreed to.

Tips:

• If you are a victim of domestic violence, you can ask the case manager to meet with you and the other party separately
• If you are talking with the other parent about an agreement remember that the court will be looking to see if the child's needs are met
• If you cannot agree on custody or visitation, you can ask for a temporary hearing in front of the Judge. There will be no court in place while you wait for a hearing
• If you cannot agree, the case will be scheduled for a hearing before the Judge. If one party does not come to the conference, no agreement is possible, so the case will be scheduled for a hearing before the Judge
• If you have agreed on all the issues before the conference, the Case Manager can help you to by-pass the rest of the steps
• If you need a hearing to resolve emergency issues before all of the steps have been completed, the Case Manager may help move you directly from Step Four to Step Seven

Before or after the Case Manager conference, the Judge will issue an Interim Domestic Order. This is a standard form that tells both parties what the rules will be while you are waiting for the final hearing to be scheduled. The interim order tells parties about:

• No harassment
• Moving out of the family residence
• Personal belongings and real property
• Expenses and debts
• Insurance polices

Both parties must follow this order until the final hearing unless you agree on something else in writing, or you ask for a hearing to change the order. If you and the other party agree to change something, you must file a written agreement with the court. It is very important that you follow every order that is issued by the court.

Step 6 does not happen in every case, but in some cases, the Judge may order the parties to go to mediation. A mediator will try to help the two of you agree to as many issues as you can. The mediator will look for agreements on issues such as:

• how you plan to share custody or visitation
• where the children will live
• when the children will spend time with the other parent
• amount of child support
• how the children's health care will be covered
• who will pay housing costs
• spousal support
• any other issues that will have an immediate impact on the children
• how you will divide your property
• how you will divide the payment of debts

You must mediate in good faith, but you don't have to agree to anything that you believe is wrong or won't work. The mediator will usually meet with each party privately at the beginning.

If the other party has abused you or you are afraid, tell the mediator about this in a private meeting. You can ask to be in a separate room from the other party during mediation.

There are fees for mediation. You will split the fees with the other party. Ask the mediator about basing the fees on your income.

Step 7 is a formal court hearing. It does not happen in every case. At the hearing, the Judge will hear each side. You can speak for yourself, bring witnesses and present documents. Court rules of evidence and procedure will be followed.

After the hearing, the Judge will give you a temporary order saying what will happen with the children and issues that affect them until your divorce case is final. The Judge may also issue temporary orders about property division, who lives in the marital home, and other financial issues.

Step 8 does not happen in every case, but the Judge may schedule a conference to find out where you are with your case and to help you figure out where to go from here. At the conference, the Judge may set the date and time of your final hearing and how long it will be.

In Vermont, you must live separately for 6 months before a final hearing can be held. This does not mean separate residences. This could mean you are living separate lives under the same roof.

If there are children, the court will not schedule a final hearing until 6 months after the divorce paperwork was served.

The hearing can be an uncontested hearing or a contested hearing. Both are formal hearings, like the interim hearing.

Uncontested Hearing

An uncontested hearing is held when the parties have agreed on all the issues related to the children (if you have any) and to dividing up marital property and/or debts. At an uncontested hearing, you will be asked to state:

• where and when you were married
• that you have been living apart for more than 6 months
• that one party has been living in Vermont for at least a year by the time of the final hearing
• that the parties are not going to get back together
• that you believe the agreement you have made is fair and
• that you want the court to grant you a divorce

The judge may also ask if you wish to waive the nisi period.  The "nisi" period is a waiting period after your final divorce order.  If a nisi period is ordered, your divorce is not final until after the end of the nisi period.  The nisi period will start from the date of the final divorce order, and can be as long as 90 days.  You do not need to have a nisi period.  You can agree to waive it.   If you waive the decree nisi period, the divorce will be final on the day of the final divorce order. If you do not waive the nisi period, the divorce will be final in 90 days.

Contested Hearing

The judge hears both sides and then issues a final order. You will have to testify to all of the above except the agreement. You may give your won testimony, present witnesses and documents. You may ask the other party questions, and they can ask you and your witnesses questions. The court rules of evidence and procedure apply.

The deadline for appealing a final order is 30 days after the clerk enters the order on the docket. File any appeal with the Family Court clerk. You will probably need a lawyer to help you go forward with an appeal. Although the filing fee for an appeal can be waived, other costs cannot. Appeals are expensive.

If you have minor children with the other party, the court will schedule a child support hearing after the Judge issues the final order. Child support hearings are decided by the Magistrate.  

• Decide if you should get a lawyer of if it safe to go forward on your own
• Read this guide to get you started
• Get your court forms packet and read through it carefully
• Fill out all the forms.  Get help if you need it.  If a form needs to be notarized, be sure to sign it in front of a notary and then make copies for your records
• File the forms and make sure they will be served
• Go to the Case Manager Conference
• Follow the Interim/Temporary Order
• Appear on time for any scheduled hearings or conferences.  Do not bring children to court
• Notify the court, in writing, if your address changes
• Take it one step at a time!

So far we have explained the basics of how the court's family division works, but there is still a lot more to know. Here are answers to some frequently asked questions.

Q. What if I need a divorce but we have no children?

A. Your divorce case will be simpler because you won't have to deal with children's issues. To get started, get the packet of forms for divorce without children. After you file and serve the papers, the case will go through the same steps as a divorce with children.

If you are the defendant in the case, file either a Notice of Appearance or Answer and Counterclaim within 20 days of being served with the court papers. The Notice of Appearance simply tells the Court that you are going to take part in the case. Mail a copy to the other party and file the original with the court. The Answer and Counterclaim is a longer form that you may want to file and serve on the other party. In it you ask the court for a divorce as well. If the other party decides to withdraw, you can still go forward on your counterclaim.

If you do not file an appearance or an answer then the court will assume that you don't care about how the case comes out. The court can go ahead and decide all of the issues in the case without giving you any more information.

Q. How is a parentage case (for unmarried parents) different from a divorce?

A. There are several differences between a parentage case and a divorce:

• The court will not decide any property issues. The only issues decided in a parentage case are custody, visitation and child support
• If either party disputes that the alleged father is the father of the child, you may have to go through a paternity test first
• The court will give a child support order but cannot give a spousal support order (alimony)

Q. What issues about the children have to be decided by the court or agreed to by both parties?

A. Here are the issues you need to think about and discuss with the other parent if you can:

• Where will the children be living? With one parent most of the time, or split time with both parents?
• When and under what conditions will the children be spending time with the other parent? If you have good reasons to ask for conditions on visits for safety reasons (conditions like supervision by another family member or no use of alcohol or drugs during visitation), raise those issues with the other parent, the case manager or the Judge.
• How much child support will be paid?
• How will you cover your child's health care expenses?  Can either of you get medical insurance at work?  Is your child eligible for public insurance (Dr. Dynasaur, Medicaid, VHAP, Green Mountain Care, or other state programs)?  How will you share any unmet medical expenses?
• Are there any other child-related issues that you want to include in your agreement?  For example, are religious upbringing, education, medical treatment, or grandparent visits an issue?  

There are two types of custody or "Parental Rights and Responsibilities": physical (where the child lives) and legal (the right to make decisions for the child about medical treatment, education, routine care, religious upbringing, etc.). Physical and legal rights and responsibilities can be held by one parent or can be shared.  So, for example, if the children live mostly with one parent, that parent has primary physical responsibility. 

It is important to note that the court cannot order shared rights and responsibilities unless both parties agree. The court may split legal responsibilities so that one parent is responsible for some decisions and the other parent responsible for others. For example, one parent could have the right to make decisions about religion, but the other parent would have the right to make all other legal decisions. In difficult cases, the court may appoint a "guardian ad litem." This person helps the court decide what would be in the children's best interests.

Q. What is a parent coordinator?

A. In cases where the parties cannot agree, the court can appoint a parent coordinator. This is to help the parents set up a schedule and follow the court's orders. The parent coordinators are specially trained to look out for the best interests of the child during a divorce or other family law case. The parent coordinator will talk to important people in the child's life and make a recommendation to the court about what would be the best parent-child contact schedule, or parenting plan.

If either parent disagrees with the parent coordinator's recommendation, they can file an objection with the court.  The court will then schedule a hearing to determine whether or not to follow the parent coordinator's recommendations.

Q. How long will my court case take?

A. That depends on several things. If you are getting divorced, even if you have agreed on all issues, you must wait at least 6 months after living separate and apart before you can have a final hearing.

If you have minor children, the court will not schedule a final custody hearing until at least 6 months after the case was filed.

Q. How do I file for other reasons or "grounds" for divorce?  

A. Most divorces in Vermont are granted on the grounds that the parties have lived separate and apart for 6 consecutive months and are not likely to get back together.

While Vermont law includes 6 other grounds for divorce, the forms are not set up to let you file a divorce on those grounds. If you decide you want to file for other reasons than that you have been separate and apart for 6 months and won't be getting back together, then you should consult a lawyer. If you list a reason for divorce and do not prove it, the judge may not grant the divorce.

If one party tells the court that there are "irreconcilable differences," the court can order a divorce, so the court almost always grants the divorce on this basis even if one party is at fault. Serious abuse may be relevant to other decisions the court must make in a divorce case, like custody, visitation or spousal support. This is true even if you ask the court to give you a divorce based on living separate and apart for 6 months.  

Q. If I'm the Defendant and I get the divorce papers in the mail, am I agreeing to everything in the complaint if I sign and return the "Acknowledgment of Receipt" form?

A. No. By signing and returning the form, you are only agreeing that you got the divorce papers. You will have the chance to explain where you stand on issues at the conference, the mediation, and any formal hearings you may have.