Vermont Child Custody: A Parent's Guide

In short: Vermont frames custody as a rights and responsibilities order, decided under the best interests of the child using a defined set of factors, with special weight given to the primary care provider relationship where relevant. Vermont has no fixed statutory notice period for relocation, but the relocating parent must give reasonable advance notice, and a contested move is evaluated under the same best-interests standard.

This is an educational overview written for parents, not lawyers. It isn't legal advice. For anything beyond general understanding, talk to a licensed Vermont family law attorney.

What Vermont generally provides

Under 15 V.S.A. § 665, Vermont courts issue a rights and responsibilities order guided by the best interests of the child, weighing a defined set of statutory factors alongside the child's relationship with their primary care provider, where appropriate given the child's age and development.

Important terminology

• Rights and responsibilities order: Vermont's term for what other states call a custody order.
• Primary care provider: the parent who has historically handled the child's day-to-day care, a relationship Vermont courts weigh explicitly where relevant.
• Reasonable notice: the standard Vermont applies to relocation notice, in place of a fixed statutory day count.

How custody works in Vermont

The core best-interest factors

Courts weigh the relationship of the child with each parent and each parent's ability and disposition to provide love, affection, and guidance, each parent's ability to assure the child receives adequate food, clothing, medical care, other material needs, and a safe environment, each parent's ability to meet the child's present and future developmental needs, the quality of the child's adjustment to their present housing, school, and community and the potential effect of any change, and each parent's ability and disposition to foster a positive relationship and frequent, continuing contact with the other parent, except where that contact would cause harm to the child or a parent.

Weight given to the primary care provider

Vermont's framework specifically directs courts to consider the quality of the child's relationship with the primary care provider, where appropriate given the child's age and development, a factor that can carry significant weight in close cases.

Parenting schedules

Once the rights and responsibilities order is set, families commonly build the actual schedule around patterns like 2-2-3 or week on, week off. See what is a parenting plan for what a strong plan generally covers, how to choose a custody schedule for a general framework, and the custody schedule generator to build the actual calendar.

Moving with your child (relocation)

Under 15 V.S.A. § 668, a parent who wishes to relocate must give the other parent reasonable notice, Vermont doesn't fix a specific number of days in statute, but the notice must allow the other parent sufficient time to seek a modification of the rights and responsibilities order if needed, and generally should include the proposed relocation date, new address, and contact information. Moves that substantially impact the other parent's contact time may require court approval. Where a relocation is contested, the Vermont Supreme Court held in Sundstrom v. Sundstrom that it's evaluated under the best-interests standard, weighing the reasons for the move, the child's relationship with both parents, the impact on the child's emotional and physical well-being, and the move's potential benefits or drawbacks. Relocating without adequate notice can lead to modification proceedings based on the breach itself. See moving to another state with shared custody for how relocation standards tend to work more broadly across states.

Common questions

How is child support calculated? Vermont uses the income shares model under 15 V.S.A. § 654, adopted in 1985: both parents' available incomes are combined, the corresponding obligation is read from the guideline table, and each parent pays a proportional share, adjusted for health insurance, childcare, and the amount of time the child spends with each parent. The presumed income figure for guideline purposes was $95,449.50 annually effective July 1, 2025, with a self-support reserve of $1,596/month effective February 2, 2026.

Can a rights and responsibilities order be changed later? Yes, generally on a showing of a real, substantial, and unanticipated change in circumstances and that a modification serves the child's best interest.

What if my co-parent won't follow the order? You can file a motion for contempt or to enforce the order with the court. Courts can order makeup time and, in serious or repeated cases, hold a parent in contempt.

Practical considerations

Because Vermont's "reasonable notice" standard for relocation isn't tied to a fixed number of days, giving as much advance notice as practically possible, in writing, tends to serve you better than assuming a specific timeframe is automatically enough, and worth confirming with a Vermont family law attorney. Whatever the order specifies, the operational part that follows it, keeping both households aligned on the same schedule, logging change requests instead of relying on memory, and keeping a record if an enforcement issue arises, is a separate, ongoing piece worth planning for.

Official Vermont resources

• 15 V.S.A. § 665 (Rights and Responsibilities Order; Best Interests of the Child)
• 15 V.S.A. Chapter 11 (Annulment and Divorce, including Relocation)
• Vermont Child Support Guidelines

Related OnePage resources

• Custody schedule generator
• What is a parenting plan
• How to choose a custody schedule
• Moving to another state with shared custody

Related Vermont pages

• Vermont hub