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. § 466)
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§ 466. Procedure
(a) A proceeding before a magistrate shall, in cases involving child support, be initiated
by the filing of a petition. If a proceeding for divorce, annulment, or separation
has been commenced before the Family Division of the Superior Court, the magistrate
shall have jurisdiction to determine a temporary amount of child support on the basis
of the complaint or petition filed in the Family Division of the Superior Court.
(b) A magistrate hearing shall be conducted according to rules adopted by the Supreme
Court, subject to review by the Judicial Rules Committee. The rules shall include
postjudgment procedures and deadlines for the establishment of support orders which
comply with the requirements of federal law.
(c) The Vermont Rules of Evidence shall apply to magistrate proceedings, except that evidence
not admissible under those Rules may be admitted if it is of a type commonly relied
upon by reasonably prudent persons in the conduct of their affairs and is not precluded
by statute or privilege.
(d) Witnesses shall be sworn. Hearings shall be electronically recorded. The magistrate
shall assist the parties in developing relevant and reliable evidence.
(e) The Family Division of the Superior Court clerk shall provide for personal service
or shall mail to the respondent, at one or more of the addresses supplied by the respondent,
by certified mail, return receipt requested and delivery restricted to the addressee,
the expense being paid by the petitioner, a notice signed by the clerk. If acceptance
of service is refused, the clerk may serve the notice on the respondent by sending
it to the respondent by ordinary first-class mail and by certifying that such service
has been made. In the alternative, the clerk may provide for mail service as provided
in Rule 4(l) of the Vermont Rules of Civil Procedure.
(f) When an obligor is referred to an employment services program, the magistrate may
require the program to file periodic written reports with the court regarding the
obligor’s progress and cooperation with the program requirements. Such reports shall
be admissible in an enforcement or contempt proceeding without the appearance of a
witness from the program unless there is a dispute with respect to the authenticity
of the report or the obligor disputes the facts set forth in the report concerning
the obligor’s performance and the facts in dispute are relevant to the determination
of the issues before the court. (Added 1989, No. 221 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 1990; amended 2009, No. 154, § 238; 2011, No. 119 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)