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
:
JURISDICTION
(Cite as: 15 V.S.A. § 1071)
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§ 1071. Initial child custody jurisdiction
(a) Except as otherwise provided in section 1074 of this title, a Vermont court has jurisdiction to make an initial child custody determination
only if:
(1) Vermont is the home state of the child on the date of the commencement of the proceeding
or was the home state of the child within six months before the commencement of the
proceeding and the child is absent from Vermont, but a parent or person acting as
a parent continues to live in Vermont;
(2) a court of another state does not have jurisdiction under subdivision (1) of this
subsection, or a court of the home state of the child has declined to exercise jurisdiction
on the ground that Vermont is the more appropriate forum under section 1077 or 1078 of this title, and:
(A) the child and the child’s parents, or the child and at least one parent or a person
acting as a parent, have a significant connection with Vermont other than mere physical
presence; and
(B) substantial evidence is available in Vermont concerning the child’s care, protection,
training, and personal relationships;
(3) all courts having jurisdiction under subdivision (1) or (2) of this subsection have
declined to exercise jurisdiction on the grounds that a Vermont court is the more
appropriate forum to determine the custody of the child under section 1077 or 1078 of this title; or
(4) no court of any other state would have jurisdiction under the criteria specified in
subdivision (1), (2), or (3) of this subsection.
(b) Subsection (a) of this section is the exclusive jurisdictional basis for making a
child custody determination by a Vermont court.
(c) Physical presence of, or personal jurisdiction over, a party or a child is not necessary
or sufficient to make a child custody determination. (Added 2011, No. 29, § 1.)