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
:
PERSONS FOR WHOM GUARDIANS APPOINTED
(Cite as: 14 V.S.A. § 2621)
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§ 2621. Policy; purposes
This article shall be construed in accordance with the following purposes and policies:
(1) It is presumed that the interests of minor children are best promoted in the child’s
own home. However, when parents are temporarily unable to care for their children,
guardianship provides a process through which parents can arrange for family members
or other parties to care for the children.
(2) Family members can make better decisions about minor children when they understand
the consequences of those decisions and are informed about the law and the available
supports.
(3) Decisions about raising a child made by a person other than the child’s parent should
be based on the informed consent of the parties unless there has been a finding of
parental unsuitability.
(4) When the informed consent of the parents cannot be obtained, parents have a fundamental
liberty interest in raising their children unless a proposed guardian can show parental
unsuitability by clear and convincing evidence.
(5) Research demonstrates that timely reunification between parents and their children
is more likely when children have safe and substantial contact with their parents.
(6) It is in the interests of all parties, including the children, that parents and proposed
guardians have a shared understanding about the length of time that they expect the
guardianship to last, the circumstances under which the parents will resume care for
their children, and the nature of the supports and services that are available to
assist them. (Added 2013, No. 170 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2014.)