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Divorce
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Need
a Family Lawyer? Click Here
 As
if there weren't enough problems in California,
you have to to be thrown under the divorce bus,
huh? Don't despair. We promise that it gets better.
Really. Take a deep breath. If nothing else, we'll
give you some answers and ease your anxiety. If
you're having a tough time coping, perhaps you
should view
this page first.
Child Support
Vermont
divorce laws specify that one or both parents
may be required to pay monies toward the support
of the children. An arithmetic formula taken directly
from these Vermont divorce laws and is applied
in most cases. The court will consider the following
factors, and when warranted use alternative measurements
to determine the total support obligation and
how it applies individually. (1) The financial
resources of the child. (2) The financial resources
of the custodial parent. (3) The standard of living
the child would have enjoyed had the marital relationship
not been discontinued. (4) The physical and emotional
condition of the child. (5) The educational needs
of the child. (6) The financial resources and
needs of the non custodial parent. (7) Inflation.
(8) The costs of meeting
the educational needs of either parent, |
if
the costs are incurred for the purpose of increasing
the earning capacity of the parent. (9) Extraordinary
travel and other travel-related expenses incurred
in exercising the right to parent-child contact.
(10) Any
other factors the court finds relevant. If the
parties agree, the court may include in the child
support order an additional amount designated
for the purpose of providing for post secondary
education. Vermont
Family Law suggests when each parent has physical
custody of the children for 30 percent or more
of a calendar year, the total child support obligation
gets increased by 50 percent to reflect the additional
costs of maintaining two households. Each parental
support obligation will be determined by dividing
the total support obligation between the parents
in proportion to their respective available incomes
and in proportion to the amount of time each parent
exercises physical custody. The parental support
obligations will then be offset, with the parent
owing the larger amount being required to pay
the difference between the two amounts to the
other parent.
Vermont divorce laws
provide that in cases where a marriage annulment
or marital annulment is sought, and there are
children of the marriage, that those children
be afforded the same rights, protections and parental
financial support, including that the children
are not considered illegitimate offspring of the
parents, that other children of the state receive.
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Child Custody
With Vermont Family Laws
guiding its courts, judges will award child custody
to the parents considering the following factors:
(1) the relationship of the child with each parent
and how each parent is likely or not likely to
provide the child with love, affection and guidance,
(2) how likely it is that each parent can provide
the necessities of life (adequate food, clothing,
medical care, other material needs and a safe
environment), (3) how likely it is that each parent
can meet the present and future needs of the child(ren),
(4) how likely it is that the child(ren) will
be able to adapt under a scenario |
having
two separate homes as opposed to an unchanged
situation that wouldn't require living in two
separate locations, 5) Whether or not each parent
is willing able and capable of fostering a frequent
and positive relationship with the other parent,
(6) How cooperative the parents appear in considering
the child(ren)'s growth and well-being.
Vermont divorce statutes
allow that courts can make decisions about child
custody and the care of your children if you can't
reach agreement with your spouse. Try very hard
to prevent an impasse. Your children's' lives
may depend on it.
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Visitation/Co-Parenting
The parties
to a dissolution (divorce) or separation have
the opportunity to agree to a visitation schedule
which includes the details of the non-custodial
parent's time with the children. If the parties
cannot agree, the court will impose a visitation
schedule that will likely include: alternate weekend
visitation (3-day weekends included), mid-week
visitation, sharing of the children during periods
of school recess -winter, spring and summer, New
Year's Eve, Easter, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur,
Thanksgiving, and Christmas with one parent or
the other in alternate years, Father's Day with
Father, Mother's Day with Mother, alternate years
on the children's birthdays, and open communication
by phone and computer.
You may
wish to get very detailed in the visitation schedule
about what is acceptable and what is not. Consider
the following: How is the decreed custody defined?
What are the rights and responsibilities? |
Who
has legal custody? Which holiday does the child
spend with you? What time and where may the other
parent pick the child up? What time should the
child be returned home? What is the procedure
to follow if either of you are running late and
won't be there on time? How much notice should
you be given if they are planning a vacation?
How far away may the other spouse move? What about
future partners? Should those partners stay overnight
in front of the children?
Be aware that you have to guide your side of
the divorce. Don't rely that your attorney will
think of everything. You set the course; your
lawyer navigates. If you anticipate any problems
with custody or visitation, we suggest you own Child
Custody Strategies.
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Alimony/
Maintenance/ Spousal Support
One or both
litigants may request that temporary relief (alimony
or maintenance) be granted during the process
of divorce. This relief can come in the form of
immediate payments, or payments may be ordered
to begin at the dissolution of the marriage. The
courts have some latitude here. Alimony (sometimes
referred to as spousal support) can be periodic
payments, lump sums or a combination thereof.
Payments can be for a certain period of times
(example: 5 years) or they can be permanent (lifetime
or until the recipient remarries). Divorce recovery
can be achieved more readily with a financial
safety net.
The court
may order either spouse to make maintenance payments,
either rehabilitative or permanent in nature,
to the other spouse if it finds that the spouse
seeking maintenance:
»lacks sufficient income, property,
or both, including property apportioned and
»is unable to support himself or herself through
appropriate employment at the standard of living
established during the marriage or is the custodian
of a child of the parties.
»The maintenance order will be in such amounts
and for such periods of time as the court deems
just, after considering all relevant factors including,
but not limited to: |
»the financial resources of the party seeking maintenance,
the property apportioned to the party, the party's
ability to meet his or her needs independently,
and the extent to which a provision for support
of a child living with the party contains a sum
for that party as custodian;
»the time and expense necessary to acquire sufficient
education or training to enable the party seeking
maintenance to find appropriate employment;
»the standard of living established during the
marriage;
»the duration of the marriage;
»the age and the physical and emotional condition
of each spouse;
»the ability of the spouse from whom maintenance
is sought to meet his or her reasonable needs
while meeting those of the spouse seeking maintenance;
and
»inflation with relation to the cost of living.
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Grounds
For Divorce
Like so many other states,
Vermont divorce statutes provide for dissolution
using any of the following common grounds for
divorce: (1) For adultery in either party; (2)
Imprisonment for more than 3 years, (3) Any intolerable
act or behavior, (4) Deserting the marital home
for 7 years and not heard from during that time,
(5) Unable to perform spousal 'duties', (6) Incurable
insanity, and (7) When the couple has lived apart
for at least six months and the court finds little
chance of reconciliation (irreconcilable differences).
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Marriage
Annulment
Marital Annulment
Annulment
is termination of an illegal marital relationship,
whereas a divorce is the termination of a legal
marriage. When an marriage annulment is completed,
one is permitted to marry again. If you are filing
for a marriage annulment (sometimes called a marital
annulment) in Vermont, you must prove a condition
existed that is also considered grounds set by
Vermont annulment laws. The following are valid
Vermont annulment grounds: Fraud- Tricking
or duping your partner into marriage, Mental
Illness- According to Vermont annulment laws,
you can obtain an annulment if your spouse has
some kind of mental illness, partial or complete.
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But
to get an annulment on this annulment ground you
have to provide a medical certificate testifying
as to your spouse’s incurable mental illness,
Physical Incapacity- If your spouse has a physical
disability which is interfering in your married
life, you can obtain annulment in Vermont, Addiction
to Drugs- Vermont annulment laws permit one
to file for an annulment on this ground as well.
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Marriage
Counseling/
Meditation
If one spouse denies the
couple has lived apart for six months or more,
or insists that the marriage can be salvaged,
the court will, after examination consider ordering
the couple to a mediation or a marriage counseling
process. Essentially the court determines if reconciliation
of the parties to the marriage is reasonably probable
or not.
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Legal
Separation/
Marital Separation
A legal separation allows
for the support and maintenance of a spouse without
the actual granting of a divorce. Also called
a marital separation or divorce separation, it
accomplishes the same thing a divorce does except
change marital status. It is a process complete
with a petition to the court, your spouse served,
and grounds claimed. A separation can be an extra
expense, which is why many simply opt for a divorce.
Legal separation is sometimes pursued when one
of the parties wants to stay married for religious
reasons, wants the |
advantage
of deductibility of spousal support payments for
income tax reasons, wants to maintain various
insurance coverage's, or do not want to wait the
state statutory waiting period for termination
of marital status. |
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Waiting
Period
Vermont courts will grant
divorces in most cases after 3 months have passed
since the initiation of the action. Courts can,
however, order dissolutions
before 3 months have elapsed under unusual circumstances. |
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Grandparents Rights
Federal
law allows grandparents the right to petition
for visitation for
and from grandchildren. Custody can also be awarded
to grandparents if the court determines that that
action serves the best interest of the children.
It is advisable to initiate a plea for visitation
during the process of divorce of your adult child,
because delaying the request might necessitate
a separate court procedure that may become costly. |
State
Fact Sheets for Grandparents and Other Relatives
Raising Children |
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Divorce
Settlement
You and your spouse will
arrive at a divorce settlement, or the court will
do so for you. Vermont is an "equitable distribution" state
when it comes to dividing marital assets. If you
and your spouse are unable to agree on what assets
are to be divided and/or how they are to be divided,
the court will do so on your behalf. Should it
become necessary to allow the court to make the
division, the judge will first determine which
assets are marital and which are not, and then
divide the marital assets "equitably" in
a fair but not necessarily equal manner. How property
is titled will have no bearing on whether a particular
asset is marital property or not.
In making a property settlement
the court may consider all relevant factors, including
but not limited to: (1) the length of the marriage;
(2) the age and health of the parties; (3) the
occupation, source and amount of income of each
of the parties; |
(4)
the contribution by one spouse to the education,
training, or increased earning power of the other;
(5) the value of all property interests, liabilities,
and needs of each party; (6) whether the property
settlement is in lieu of or in addition to maintenance;
(7) the opportunity of each for future acquisition
of capital assets and income; (8) the desirability
of awarding the family home or the right to live
there for reasonable periods to the spouse having
custody of the children; (9) the party through
whom the property was acquired; (10) the contribution
of each spouse in the acquisition, preservation,
and depreciation or appreciation in value of the
respective estates, including the non monetary
contribution of a spouse as a homemaker; and (11)
the respective merits of the parties.
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Residency
Requirements
In order for a petition
for divorce or annulment to move forward through
the Vermont court system, at least one of the
parties must have resided within Vermont for a
period of six months or more. Divorces are not
granted unless one of the parties has |
been
a resident of Vermont for a full year or more
prior to any entry of dissolution. Vermont courts
will consider temporary absence from the state
( illness, employment outside the state, armed
forces relocation or other legitimate causes)
as being residents in most cases.
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