Rule 4.1.Cases Involving Minor Children
Last amended January 3, 2025 · Last verified September 12, 2026
Full Text of Rule 4.1
Notes
REPORTER'S NOTES--2025 AMENDMENT: In 2020, the Vermont Legislature enacted legislation on proceedings related to vulnerable noncitizen children. 14 V.S.A. § 3098. The Vermont legislation applies in any court with jurisdiction over an unmarried individual or individuals under the age of 21 and not a citizen of the United States. In the family division this includes all proceedings governed by Rule 4.1 in which custody of a noncitizen child is at issue and a petition for special findings has been filed. The Federal Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) allows a noncitizen youth to file for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), which if granted, provides a pathway to permanent residency for the child. 8 U.S.C. § 1101 et seq. A filing for SIJS status with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) must demonstrate that the child meets certain criteria one of which is that a state court with jurisdiction over the youth has made “special findings” in four specific areas: (1) the child is a dependent of the court or legally committed to or placed under custody of a state agency or an individual or entity appointed by the court; (2) the child has suffered from abuse, neglect, abandonment, or similar circumstances; (3) the child may not be viably reunified with one or both parents due to abuse, neglect, abandonment, or similar circumstances; and (4) that it is not in the child's best interests to be returned to the child's or the child's parents previous country of national residence or habitual residence. 14 V.S.A. § 3098(c)(1)(A)-(D); see 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(27)(J). Section 3098 confers jurisdiction on Vermont courts to issue findings that address these four areas whenever a petition for special findings is filed. Rule 4.1(a)(2)(I) is added to permit the court to waive service of the petition for special findings as provided in Rule 4.3(g). Section 3098(d) specifically authorizes the court to use any appropriate alternative method of service or to waive service altogether. The procedure for a motion to waive service is outlined in Rule 4.3(g). See Rule 4.3(g), Reporter's Notes--2025 Amendment. V.R.F.P. 4.1(a)(3)(D) is added to permit the postponement of a case manager conference in cases where a petition for special findings has been filed until the court has heard and decided the petition. A determination by the court with respect to findings related to a child's status as a vulnerable noncitizen is critical to the ability of the case manager to conduct an appropriate conference. If the status is confirmed by special findings, a conference may not be necessary. Further, as the statute makes clear time is of the essence in many such cases. Section 3098(e) requires the court to hear, adjudicate and issue findings on such petitions as soon as it is administratively feasible whenever it is in the best interest of the vulnerable noncitizen child.
REPORTER'S NOTES--2018 AMENDMENTS: Rule 4.1 is amended to change its 45-, 20-, and 5-day time periods to 42, 21, and 7 days, consistent with the simultaneous “day is a day” amendments to V.R.C.P. 6, which adopts the day-is-a-day counting system from the Federal Rules. See Reporter's Notes to simultaneous amendments of V.R.F.P. 1.
REPORTER'S NOTES: Rule 4.1 is adopted as part of the replacement of former Rule 4 by Rules 4.0-4.3 to make the provisions of the former rule more accessible by reorganizing them in a functional order and by “restyling” them. See Reporter's Notes to simultaneous adoption of Rule 4.0. Rule 4.1 supplements and modifies the general provisions of Rule 4.0 in cases involving minor children and parentage. Rule 4.1(a) carries forward in restyled format the last sentence of former Rule 4(b)(1)(A), with an updated statutory reference, and former Rule 4(b)(1)(C), (2)(B), and 2(D). Rule 4.1(a)(2)(H) was derived from former Rule 4(b)(2)(B)(vi), which was a permitted form of service in cases involving minor children. The new rule makes clear that the waiver of service procedure may be initiated by any delivery method that the plaintiff elects and that the defendant is not required to file an answer in the waiver situation. Rule 4.1(b) generally incorporates the provisions of Rule 4.0(g) concerning discovery with the exceptions from former Rule 4(g)(2)(C), (D)(i) and (iii), and (5) in restyled format. Rule 4.1(c) carries forward the provisions of former Rule 4(h) in restyled format. Rule 4.1(d) carries forward the provisions of former Rule 4(q) in restyled format. Rule 4.1(e) carries forward the provisions of former Rule 4(e)(1)(C) and (2) in restyled format. Rule 4.1(f) carries forward the provisions of former Rule 4(l) in restyled format. The terms “child support” and “spousal maintenance” are used consistent with revisions of Rule 4.0(d)(3). Only child support orders need to be mailed to the registry.
Amendment History
[Adopted August 25, 2016, effective December 5, 2016. Amended September 20, 2017, effective January 1, 2018; November 4, 2024, effective January 3, 2025.]
Plain-English Summary
Rule 4.1 sits on top of Rule 4.0 and adds what changes once minor children are in the case. The complaint, or an affidavit filed with it, must carry the information the uniform child custody jurisdiction law requires, so the court can tell from the first filing whether it may decide parental rights and responsibilities. If a parent receives public assistance for the children through the state, the complaint has to recite that fact and the papers must go to the Office of Child Support by certified mail. If the assistance starts after the case is underway, the plaintiff files an amended complaint saying so and serves it the same way. When the Commissioner avers that a party is receiving, or has come to receive, that assistance, the Office of Child Support can intervene as a party to protect the Department's interests, and when support rights have been assigned to it, it can bring the action itself.
When either party is or may be obligated to pay child support, the order of the opening steps matters. The complaint is filed first. The clerk then schedules a hearing or a case manager's conference and tries to set it 42 to 60 days after filing, and only after that is the defendant served. The clerk handles service, or the plaintiff's attorney does on request. It can be personal service, certified mail with delivery restricted to the addressee, ordinary first-class mail with a certificate if the certified mail is refused, or publication if the court orders it. A plaintiff can also deliver the papers with a request that the defendant waive formal service. The defendant signs, dates, and returns the waiver within 21 days, or 60 days if the papers were delivered outside a state or territory of the United States, and a defendant who ignores the request can be charged the cost of service by another method, including reasonable attorney's fees.
The case management conference is the working meeting of the case. A case manager, or another family division staff member the judge designates, runs it. It happens after service and no later than the hearing date, and its job is to take up every open financial and other issue, encourage settlement, and narrow what is left for the judge or magistrate. It can be waived if the parties have already filed and exchanged everything the rule requires, filed a court-approved stipulation on what they have settled, and listed what they have not. Each side owes an affidavit of income and assets on or before the conference date, or at least 7 days before the first hearing before the magistrate if no conference is set. With it come pay stubs for the four most recent pay periods in which employment income was received, income and expense statements for anyone self-employed, and documentation of other income such as social security, workers' compensation, unemployment compensation, disability, and pensions. By that same date the parties exchange tax returns for the two most recent years, schedules included.
The rest of the rule shapes the calendar and the closing paperwork. A divorce with minor children is not heard on the merits until six months after service unless the court orders otherwise, and that takes either a joint motion and affidavit showing a stable and effective agreement for parental rights and responsibilities that has been in operation for at least six months, or extraordinary circumstances. A magistrate hears and determines proceedings to establish or modify child support, with narrow exceptions that send the issue to a superior judge assigned to the family division. Couples who settle need more in the stipulation than a couple without children: the children's names and dates of birth, a parenting agreement covering parental rights and responsibilities along with parent-child contact, transportation, medical care, and schooling, confirmation that both parents comply with any final child support order, and a statement that both sides were assisted by counsel. Shared or divided parental rights also call for a statement that the parents can communicate and work together, plus a dispute resolution clause requiring mediation or arbitration. In a parentage case the court may accept and approve the parties' stipulation without a hearing. A child support or spousal maintenance order needs findings and conclusions if the matter was contested, and a separately captioned order in every case. In an uncontested case decided without findings, the court attaches a worksheet showing how support was calculated, childcare costs included. Every order sets out each child's date of birth, the total arrearage as of a given date, when payments of support and arrearage start and in what amount, termination and reduction dates, and either immediate wage withholding or findings and provisions for future withholding, and every support order is served on each party and on the registry.
Frequently Asked Questions
How soon can a Vermont divorce with kids be heard?
Not sooner than six months from the date of service, unless the court orders otherwise. There are two paths to an earlier hearing on the merits. The parties can file a joint motion and affidavit showing that a stable and effective agreement for parental rights and responsibilities has existed and been in operation for at least six months, or a party can show extraordinary circumstances.
The six months runs from service, not from filing, so a delay in serving the other spouse pushes the whole schedule back.
What financial paperwork do I have to file if child support is involved?
An affidavit of income and assets, due on or before the date of the case management conference. If no conference is scheduled, it is due at least 7 days before the first hearing before the magistrate. Both parties file one.
Attach pay stubs for the four most recent pay periods in which you received employment income, monthly income and expense statements or equivalent documents if you are self-employed, and documentation of any other income, including social security, workers' compensation, unemployment compensation, disability, and pensions. By the same date, the parties exchange tax returns for the two most recent years in which returns were filed, with all schedules and anything else that went to the Internal Revenue Service.
What happens at a case manager's conference?
A case manager assigned to the family division, or another staff member the judge designates, sits down with the parties to go through the financial and other issues still open between them. The point is to settle what can be settled and to sharpen what cannot, so the hearing is shorter and better focused. It is held after the defendant has been served and no later than the date set for hearing.
The conference can be waived. If the parties have already filed and exchanged all the required information, filed a stipulation the court approves covering the resolved issues, and filed a statement of the unresolved ones, the judge, the magistrate, or the case manager with the judge's approval may call it off. A petition for special findings postpones the conference until that petition is decided, and the court may waive the conference if the petition is granted.
Why does the Office of Child Support get copies of my complaint?
Because public assistance for the children is state money, and the state wants to be at the table. If either party receives a grant for public assistance on behalf of the children in a divorce or parentage action, the complaint must say so and the summons and complaint must be served on the Office of Child Support by certified mail, return receipt requested. If the assistance begins during the case, the plaintiff files an amended complaint and serves it along with the original papers the same way.
Where the Commissioner avers that a party is a recipient, the Office of Child Support can also intervene as a party to protect the Department's interests, which it does by filing and serving a notice with any affidavit on all parties. And when support rights have been assigned to it, the Office can file the case itself, giving the clerk a current mailing address so the assignor is served by certified mail.
How do I get my spouse served, and what if they refuse the papers?
Once the hearing or conference is on the calendar, the clerk serves the defendant, or the plaintiff's attorney can on request. Personal service is one option. So is certified mail, return receipt requested, with delivery restricted to the addressee, though the plaintiff pays that expense. If the defendant refuses the certified mail, the clerk may send the papers by ordinary first-class mail and certify that service has been made. Publication is available by order of the court.
There is also a friendlier route. You can deliver the papers any way you like with a request that the defendant waive other service. The defendant has 21 days to sign, date, and return the waiver, or 60 days if the papers were delivered outside a state or territory of the United States. A defendant who ignores the request can be ordered to pay the costs of serving another way, including reasonable attorney's fees.