The Vermont Statutes Online
The Statutes below include the actions of the 2024 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.
Title 15 : Domestic Relations
Chapter 011 : Annulment and Divorce
Subchapter 003A : CHILD CUSTODY AND SUPPORT
(Cite as: 15 V.S.A. § 650)-
§ 650. Legislative findings and purpose
The legislature finds and declares as public policy that after parents have separated or dissolved their civil marriage, it is in the best interests of their minor child to have the opportunity for maximum continuing physical and emotional contact with both parents, unless direct physical harm or significant emotional harm to the child or a parent is likely to result from such contact. The legislature further finds and declares as public policy that parents have the responsibility to provide child support, and that child support orders should reflect the true costs of raising children and approximate insofar as possible the standard of living the child would have enjoyed had the family remained intact. (Added 1985, No. 181 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 2003, No. 159 (Adj. Sess.), § 5; 2009, No. 3, § 12a, eff. Sept. 1, 2009.)