The Vermont Statutes Online
The Statutes below include the actions of the 2025 session of the General Assembly.
NOTE: The Vermont Statutes Online is an unofficial copy of the Vermont Statutes Annotated that is provided as a convenience.
Subchapter
002
:
OFFICE OF MAGISTRATE
(Cite as: 4 V.S.A. § 461c)
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§ 461c. Powers of assistant judges in divorce proceedings
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, an assistant judge may
elect to hear and determine a complaint or action that seeks a divorce, legal separation,
or civil union dissolution in cases where a final stipulation of the parties has been
filed with the court.
(b) When an assistant judge elects to hear such cases, the clerk shall set it for hearing
before the assistant judge if available.
(c) Prior to hearing an uncontested domestic matter, an assistant judge shall sit with
a Superior judge on domestic proceedings for a minimum of 100 hours, satisfactorily
complete a minimum of 30 hours of training on subjects relevant to domestic proceedings
and the Code of Judicial Conduct, and conduct a minimum of three uncontested domestic
hearings with a Superior judge who shall, in the Superior judge’s sole discretion,
certify to the Chief Superior Judge that the assistant judge is qualified to preside
over matters under this section. Upon application of an assistant judge, some or all
of these requirements may be waived by the Chief Superior Judge based on equivalent
experience. The requirements set forth in this subsection shall only apply to assistant
judges who elect to conduct uncontested final hearings in domestic cases after July
1, 2010. An assistant judge already conducting hearings under this section as of July
1, 2010 shall be deemed to have complied with these requirements. (Added 1993, No. 237 (Adj. Sess.), § 10, eff. Nov. 1, 1994; amended 1995, No. 59, § 3; 1997, No. 90 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 2009, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 29b; 2021, No. 105 (Adj. Sess.), § 10, eff. July 1, 2022; 2021, No. 147 (Adj. Sess.), § 18, eff. May 31, 2022.)