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Searching 2023-2024 Session

The Vermont Statutes Online

The Vermont Statutes Online have been updated to include the actions of the 2023 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 15A : Adoption Act

Chapter 002 : Adoption of Minors

Subchapter 004 : Consent to and Relinquishment for Adoption

(Cite as: 15A V.S.A. § 2-402)
  • § 2-402. Persons whose consent not required

    (a) Consent to an adoption of a minor is not required of:

    (1) a person who has relinquished parental rights or guardianship powers, including the right to consent to adoption, to an agency pursuant to this part of this article;

    (2) a person whose parental relationship to the minor has been judicially terminated or determined not to exist;

    (3) a man who has not been married to the woman who gave birth to the minor and who, after the conception of the minor, executes a notarized statement denying paternity or disclaiming any interest in the minor and acknowledging that his statement is irrevocable when executed;

    (4) the personal representative of a deceased parent’s estate; or

    (5) a parent or other person who has not executed a consent or a relinquishment and who fails to file an answer or make an appearance in a proceeding for adoption or for termination of a parental relationship within the requisite time after service of notice of the proceeding.

    (b) The court may dispense with the consent of:

    (1) a guardian or an agency whose consent is otherwise required upon a finding that the consent is being withheld unreasonably, contrary to the best interest of a minor adoptee; or

    (2) a minor adoptee who has attained 14 years of age upon a finding that it is not in the best interest of the minor to require the consent. (Added 1995, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)