>An advance directive is a form you fill out to tell your family about your end of life wishes. It includes instructions on whether or not you want extraordinary measures to keep you alive, a designation of a person who will make health care decisions on your behalf if you cannot, and even directions about […]
>In a recent case, a father attempted to modify a parent child contact order which provided for 50/50 split between the parents. A daughter had not stayed with her mother for a period of over a year, and father decided to ask the court to change the order to reflect the new reality. Under Vermont […]
>The Vermont legislature enacted comprehensive legislation last year involving estates, trusts, and intestacy statutes, some overturning centuries old law. I will do a series of articles on the new statutes. The first will be on on a brand new provision to take care of your pets after you die. Vermont has enacted a provision to […]
>During the recent debate in the Vermont legislature, a state representative asked for my ideas on how things might be improved. The following were suggestions which, although beyond the scope of the judicial reform bill, address some examples of extra legal expense and extra time in the system. Since I am most familiar with family […]
> Vermont’s Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 1, calls for court rules to “be construed and administered to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action.” This first rule of Vermont’s courts appears to have been forgotten or ignored and the result is H.470 (An act relating to restructuring of the judiciary) which […]
> One of the most frequent questions we get this time of year from clients in the middle of a divorce is “what do I do about my taxes?” For couples without children the answer may be as simple as working out a filing status. For couples with children, the answer can be more complicated. […]
>If you are trying to obtain custody of your children (called Parental Rights and Responsibilities in Vermont), there is one major mistake to avoid. Many parents believe that they must prove that the other parent is unfit in order to obtain custody, so they focus on the other parent’s failings. In a divorce or parentage […]
>Will contests are one of the most interesting cases for a lawyer, but one of the most painful for a family. If someone has died leaving a will, the law allows interested parties to contest the will. Interested parties are people who would have inherited if there was no will, such as children and grandchildren, […]
>The answer is no…and yes. In Vermont, one of the grounds for divorce is adultery. In 30 years of practice, I have never seen a judge rule that divorce was granted on the grounds of adultery. This is because in Vermont a divorce can be granted on the grounds that the parties “have lived separate […]
>If a child is abused by his parents, there are two legal avenues to protect the child. One, outlined in Chapter 53 of Title 33 of Vermont Statutes Annotated, provides for the state to take custody and guardianship of the child, and provides a mechanism for reunification or termination of parental rights in an orderly, […]