The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 15C: Parentage Proceedings

Chapter 004: Presumed Parentage

• § 401. Presumption of parentage

  (a) Except as otherwise provided in this title, a person is presumed to be a parent of a child if:

  (1) the person and the person who gave birth to the child are married to each other and the child is born during the marriage; or

  (2) the person and the person who gave birth to the child were married to each other and the child is born not later than 300 days after the marriage is terminated by death, annulment, declaration of invalidity, divorce, or dissolution; or

  (3) the person and the person who gave birth to the child married each other after the birth of the child and the person at any time asserted parentage of the child and the person agreed to be and is named as a parent of the child on the birth certificate of the child; or

  (4) the person resided in the same household with the child for the first two years of the life of the child, including periods of temporary absence, and the person and another parent of the child openly held out the child as the person’s child.

  (b) A presumption of parentage shall be rebuttable and may be overcome and competing claims to parentage resolved only by court order or a valid denial of parentage pursuant to chapter 3 of this title. (Added 2017, No. 162 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)

• § 402. Challenge to presumed parent

  (a) Except as provided in subsections (b)-(d) of this section, a proceeding to challenge the parentage of a person whose parentage is presumed under section 401 of this title shall be commenced within two years after the birth of the child.

  (b) A proceeding to challenge the parentage of a person whose parentage is presumed under section 401 of this title may be commenced two years or more after the birth of the child in any of the following circumstances:

  (1) The presumed parent is not a genetic parent, never resided with the child, and never held out the child as the presumed parent’s child.

  (2) An alleged genetic parent who did not know of the potential genetic parentage of a child and who could not reasonably have known on account of material misrepresentation or concealment may commence a proceeding under this section within two years after discovering the potential genetic parentage. If the person is adjudicated to be the genetic parent of the child, the court shall not disestablish a presumed parent.

  (3) The child has more than one presumed parent.

  (c) Subject to the limitations set forth in this section and in section 401 of this title, if in a proceeding to adjudicate a presumed parent’s parentage of a child another person in addition to the person who gave birth to the child asserts a claim to parentage of the child, the court shall adjudicate parentage pursuant to subsections 206(a) and (b) of this title.

  (d) Regarding a presumption under subdivision 401(a)(4) of this title, another parent of the child may challenge a presumption of parentage if that parent openly held out the child as the presumptive parent’s child due to duress, coercion, or threat of harm. Evidence of duress, coercion, or threat of harm may include whether within the prior 10 years the person presumed to be a parent pursuant to subdivision 401(a)(4) of this title has been convicted of domestic assault, sexual assault, or sexual exploitation of the child or another parent of the child; was subject to a final abuse protection order pursuant to 15 V.S.A. chapter 21 because the person was found to have committed abuse against the child or another parent of the child; or was substantiated for abuse against the child or another parent of the child pursuant to 33 V.S.A. chapter 49 or 33 V.S.A. chapter 69. (Added 2017, No. 162 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 2019, No. 14, § 46, eff. April 30, 2019; 2023, No. 175 (Adj. Sess.), § 4, eff. July 1, 2024.)

• § 402a. Adjudication of parentage if birth parent only other parent

  The following rules apply in a proceeding to adjudicate a presumed parent’s parentage of a child if the person who gave birth is the only other person with a claim to parentage of the child:

  (1) If no party to the proceeding challenges the presumed parent’s parentage of the child, the court shall adjudicate the presumed parent to be a parent of the child.

  (2) If the presumed parent is identified under subsection 604(a) of this title as a genetic parent of the child and that identification is not successfully challenged under said subsection, the court shall adjudicate the presumed parent to be a parent of the child.

  (3) If the presumed parent is not identified under subsection 604(a) of this title as a genetic parent of the child and the presumed parent or another party challenges the presumed parent’s parentage of the child, the court shall adjudicate the parentage of the child in the best interests of the child, based on the factors listed in subsections 206(a) and (b) of this title. Challenges regarding the parentage of a child born through assisted reproduction must be resolved under chapter 7 of this title. (Added 2023, No. 175 (Adj. Sess.), § 5, eff. July 1, 2024.)

• § 403. Multiple presumptions

  If two or more conflicting presumptions arise under this chapter, the court shall adjudicate parentage pursuant to section 206 of this title. (Added 2017, No. 162 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)