Rule 13.Scope; Applicability; Definitions
Last amended July 1, 2010 · Last verified September 12, 2026
Full Text of Rule 13
Notes
REPORTER'S NOTES--2010 EMERGENCY AMENDMENT: Rule 13 is amended to implement Act 154 of 2009, § 7 (Adj. Sess.), An Act Relating to Restructuring of the Judiciary, effective July 1, 2010, which enacted 4 V.S.A. § 30 establishing a single Superior Court of statewide jurisdiction with Civil, Criminal, Family, and Environmental divisions to replace the former Superior, District, Family and Environmental courts. Provisions governing the former courts were repealed or amended by other sections of the Act. (Under §§ 7a, 238a, and 239(c) of the Act, the probate courts do not become the Probate Division of the Superior Court, and relevant repeals do not take effect until February 1, 2011.) By virtue of new 4 V.S.A. § 30(a)(1)(C), the Vermont Rules for Family Proceedings apply to cases in the Family Division. Pending a detailed set of amendments to the Family and Civil Rules that would replace all terminology rendered obsolete by the provisions of Act 154, V.R.F.P. 13(c) is added to provide “global” provisions that indicate the appropriate terminology to replace specific terms in the existing rules. Note that “presiding judge” in amended Rule 13(c)(2) refers to the traditional role of a superior judge sitting with assistant judges, which is carried forward in new 4 V.S.A. § 36. For purposes of the Rules, the term does not mean the presiding judge of each unit to be assigned by the administrative judge pursuant to 4 V.S.A. § 73(a) for administrative functions pursuant to § 73(c).
REPORTER'S NOTES--1995 AMENDMENT: Rule 13(b) is amended to reflect the effect of the simultaneous addition of Rule 6.1. See Reporter's Notes to that rule.
REPORTER'S NOTES: This rule states the general concept, that the Family Court Rules provide the procedure governing all proceedings of the family court. The two exceptions are cases transferred from the probate courts pursuant to 4 V.S.A. § 455, involuntary guardianships and adoptions. Because special rules and forms have been developed for these actions, the Vermont Rules of Probate Procedure will continue to govern these actions even after a transfer decision. However, in all involuntary guardianship proceedings, regardless of the court in which they are heard, Family Court Rule 6 will apply. V.R.P.P. 18 is amended, simultaneously with adoption of these rules, to conform to these rules.
Amendment History
[Amended effective December 1, 1995; July 1, 2010.]
Plain-English Summary
This rule draws the boundary. Cases in the Family Division of the Superior Court run on the Vermont Rules for Family Proceedings. Guardianship proceedings and adoption actions that arrive in the Family Division by transfer are the exception: they keep running under the Vermont Rules of Probate Procedure, so a transfer changes the courtroom without changing the procedure.
Traffic moves the other way too. Rules 6 and 6.1, which govern representation by attorneys and guardians ad litem, reach into the probate courts to the extent those rules say so.
The definitions do quieter work, and they matter more than they look. Vermont reorganized its trial courts into a Superior Court with divisions, and rule language written for the old structure stayed on the books. Rule 13 supplies the translation: family court means the Family Division of the Superior Court, and the old geographic words scattered through the rules — county, territorial unit, circuit — all mean a unit of the Superior Court. The clerk is the clerk of the Superior Court for the unit where your action is pending, and a case manager is staff provided to the Family Division.
Court carries a double meaning worth knowing. As a rule it means a majority of the judges. Where a Superior Judge is authorized to act alone, court or judge means the Presiding Judge, a judge acting for that judge, any Superior Judge authorized to act alone, or a member of the Vermont bar acting for that judge. Elsewhere court means the right division in the right unit, or a tribunal of another state.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which rules govern my case in the Vermont Family Division?
The Vermont Rules for Family Proceedings supply the procedure for cases in the Family Division of the Superior Court. Where a rule borrows from another set of rules, it says so, and the borrowed rule then applies on the terms stated.
My guardianship case was transferred into the Family Division. Do the family rules apply?
No. Guardianship proceedings and adoption actions that come to the Family Division by transfer keep running under the Vermont Rules of Probate Procedure. The transfer moves the case; it does not swap in a different rulebook.
Rules 6 and 6.1 are the bridge in the other direction, governing representation by attorneys and guardians ad litem in the probate courts to the extent those rules provide.
The rules say family court but my paperwork says Family Division. Is there a difference?
No. The definitions state that family court means the Family Division of the Superior Court. The older phrase survives in rule text written before the trial courts were reorganized, and Rule 13 keeps it pointing at the right place.
What does unit mean in these rules?
A unit is the geographic piece of the Superior Court established by the Supreme Court. Older words in the rules — county, territorial unit, circuit — all mean unit now.
The practical upshot is that the clerk handling your case is the clerk of the Superior Court for the unit where the action is pending, and that is where your filings go.
Who is the case manager the rules keep mentioning?
A case manager is staff provided to the Family Division. Rule 13 pins the term down, and other rules then give case managers real work, such as running the conference that follows a complaint involving minor children.