Rule 11.Books, Records and Forms in the Family Court
Not amended since adoption on record · Last verified September 12, 2026
Full Text of Rule 11
Notes
REPORTER'S NOTES: Family Court Rule 11 is adopted to authorize the Court Administrator to promulgate procedures and forms for use by family court clerks and litigants. The rule is an extension of former Family Court Rule 4(r), and is based upon 4 V.S.A. § 467 and Vermont Constitution, ch. II, § 37.
Plain-English Summary
The rule is short and it hands the paperwork to the Court Administrator. Internally, that office writes the procedures family court clerks follow to prepare and preserve dockets, records, and hearing calendars. That is why a case file looks the same whichever clerk's office holds it, and why the calendar you are on is built the same way as everyone else's.
The rest of the rule reaches litigants. The Court Administrator also adopts and promulgates standard forms, and parties must complete them when filing a complaint, a petition, or an objection under these rules. The form is a requirement, not a convenience offered to people without lawyers.
In practice that means the starting move in a family filing is finding the form that matches what you are asking the court to do, then filling it in completely. The rule does not tell you what to say. What your filing must contain comes from the rule that governs your kind of case, and the form gives that content a fixed shape the clerk can process.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to use Vermont's official family court forms?
Yes, when you are filing a complaint, a petition, or an objection under these rules. The rule says the standard forms adopted by the Court Administrator must be completed by the parties filing them.
Who decides what the family court forms look like?
The Court Administrator adopts and promulgates them. Because the forms come from that office rather than from each courthouse, the same kind of filing is asked for the same way wherever you file it.
Does Rule 11 apply to filings other than a complaint, petition, or objection?
The form requirement is written for a complaint, a petition, or an objection filed under these rules. Rule 11 asks nothing of other filings, so any form expected for one of those comes from a different rule.
The Court Administrator's procedures for dockets, records, and hearing calendars still reach every case, because those bind the clerks rather than the parties.
Who keeps the court's dockets, records, and calendars?
The family court clerks do, following procedures the Court Administrator adopts for preparing and preserving them. The rule sets the standard centrally rather than leaving each clerk's office to invent its own.
Does this rule tell me what my filing has to say?
No. It governs the forms and the clerks' handling of records, not the substance of what you file. For the content a complaint, petition, or objection must carry, look to the rule that governs your proceeding.