The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 4 : Judiciary

Chapter 007 : Probate Courts

Subchapter 002 : Jurisdiction

• § 311a. Venue generally

  For proceedings authorized to the Probate Division of Superior Court, venue shall lie as provided in Title 14A for the administration of trusts, and otherwise in a probate district as follows:

  (1) Decedent’s estate for a resident of this State: in the district where the decedent resided at the time of death.

  (2) Decedent’s estate for a nonresident of this State: in any district where estate of the decedent is situated.

  (3) Appointment of a conservator for the estate of an absent person:

  (A) in the district of the absent person’s last legal domicile; or

  (B) if a nonresident of this State, in any district where estate of the absent person is situated.

  (4) [Repealed.]

  (5) Appointment of a trustee for the estate of an absent person:

  (A) in the district of the absent person’s last legal domicile; or

  (B) if the absent person has no domicile in this State, in any district where property of the absent person is situated; or

  (C) in any district of residence of a fiduciary or representative of an estate having possession and control of property the absent person received by virtue of a legacy or as an heir of an estate.

  (6) Cemetery trusts:

  (A) in the district where the trustee resides; or

  (B) in the district where the creation of the trust is recorded.

  (7) Appointment of a guardian of a person resident in this State: in the district where the person under guardianship resides at the time of appointment, except when the guardian is appointed for a minor who is interested in a decedent’s estate as an heir, devisee, or legatee or representative of either, in the district where the decedent’s estate is being probated.

  (8) Appointment of a guardian for a nonresident minor: in the district where the minor owns or has an interest in real estate.

  (9) Termination or modification of a guardianship or change of a guardian:

  (A) in the district of the appointing court; or

  (B) in the district where the person under guardianship resides.

  (10) [Repealed.]

  (11) Estate of a nonresident charitable or philanthropic testamentary trust:

  (A) in any district where the legacy or gift is to be paid or distributed; or

  (B) in any district where the beneficiary or beneficiaries reside or are located.

  (12) Appointment of a guardian as to the estate of a nonresident subject to guardianship in this State or under guardianship in another state: in any district where the estate of the nonresident under guardianship or person who may need a guardian is situated.

  (13) Change of residential placement for a person under total or limited guardianship:

  (A) in the district of the appointing court; or

  (B) in the district where the person under guardianship resides.

  (14) Petition to determine title to property in the name of a person deceased seven or more years without probate of a decedent estate: in the district where the property is situated.

  (15) Uniform gifts to minors:

  (A) petition to expend custodial property for a minor’s support, education, or maintenance: in the district where the minor resides;

  (B) petition for permission to resign or for designation of a successor custodian: in the district where the minor resides.

  (16) Relinquishment for adoption:

  (A) in the district where a written relinquishment is executed; or

  (B) in the district where a licensed child-placing agency to which written relinquishment is made has its principal office.

  (17) Adoption:

  (A) if the adopting person or persons are residents of this State, in the district where they reside;

  (B) if the adopting person or persons are nonresidents, in a court of competent jurisdiction where they reside; or

  (C) if the prospective adoptee is a minor who has been relinquished or committed to the Department for Children and Families or a licensed child-placing agency, in the district where the Department or agency is located or has its principal office.

  (18) Change of name: in the district where the person resides.

  (19) Appeal from a denial by the State Registrar of Vital Records of a request for a new, corrected, amended, or delayed birth certificate: in the district where the birth occurred or allegedly occurred.

  (20) Correction or amendment of a civil marriage or civil union certificate or issuance of delayed certificate: in the district where the marriage or civil union license was issued or allegedly issued.

  (21) Appeal from a denial by the State Registrar of Vital Records of a request for a corrected or amended death certificate: in the district where the death occurred or, if the place of death is unknown, where the body was found.

  (22) Emergency waiver of premarital medical certificate: in the district where application is made for the civil marriage license.

  (23) Proceedings relating to cemetery lots: in the district where the cemetery lot is located.

  (24) Trusts relating to community mausoleums or columbariums: in the district where the community mausoleum or columbarium is located.

  (25) Petition for license to convey homestead interest of a spouse who lacks capacity to protect his or her interests due to a psychiatric disability: in the district where the homestead is situated.

  (26) Declaratory judgments (unless otherwise provided in Title 14A for proceedings relating to the administration of trusts):

  (A) if any related proceeding is then pending in any Probate Division of the Superior Court, in that district; or

  (B) if no proceeding is pending:

  (i) in the district where the petitioner resides; or

  (ii) if a decedent’s estate, a guardian or person under guardianship, or trust governed by Title 14 is the subject of the proceeding, in any district where venue lies for a proceeding thereon.

  (27) [Repealed.]

  (28) Appointment of a trustee for a person confined under a sentence of imprisonment: in the district or unit in which the person resided at the time of sentence or in the district or unit in which the sentence was imposed.

  (29) Proceedings concerning 18 V.S.A. chapter 231: in the district where the principal resides or in the district where the principal is a patient admitted to a health care facility.

  (30) Proceedings under 18 V.S.A. chapter 107, subchapter 3: in the district where the decedent resided at the time of death or where the remains are currently located. (Added 1985, No. 144 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; amended 2005, No. 55, § 4, eff. Sept. 1, 2005; 2007, No. 56, § 3; 2009, No. 3, § 12a, eff. Sept. 1, 2009; 2009, No. 20, § 4; 2009, No. 92 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 2009, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 18A, eff. Feb. 1, 2011; 2013, No. 96 (Adj. Sess.), § 13; 2013, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 100; 2017, No. 46, § 56, eff. July 1, 2019.)