Does paying child support prevent abandonment claims in Vermont?

Don't assume it does. Whether paying child support prevents an abandonment claim in Vermont depends on the facts of your situation and on how the Probate Court applies 15A V.S.A. § 3-504, so it's a point to confirm with the Probate Court clerk in your county or with an attorney. Paying support is not a guaranteed answer either way.

What Vermont's statute sets out. The abandonment provision, 15A V.S.A. § 3-504, uses a period of 6 months. If you are thinking about asking the court to move forward without the other parent's agreement, that 6-month period is the timeframe the statute is built around. How the court weighs support payments against other facts, such as contact or involvement, is a question for the clerk or an attorney. Many older articles online cite a 12-month period, which does not match Vermont's statute.

Why your facts matter. Situations differ a lot, and a contested case can turn on details. These are the kinds of things worth writing down and gathering before you talk with the clerk or an attorney:

• When the other parent last saw or spoke with your child
• Any calls, texts, cards or messages sent or received, and when
• Whether support has been paid, how regularly, and records of those payments
• Any court orders about custody, visitation or support
• Anything the other parent has said about the adoption

Keeping both support records and contact records gives you a full picture of what has happened, which is what a clerk or attorney will need to advise you on your specific case.

If the other parent agrees. If the other parent is willing to cooperate, the abandonment question may never come up. Your timeline will still depend on your county's Probate Court. Vermont stepparent adoptions typically run about 3-6 months, and the clerk can tell you about local scheduling and filing fees.

What to do next.

• Call the Probate Court clerk in your county and ask how abandonment and support payments are handled in stepparent adoption filings
• Consider a short consultation with a Vermont family law attorney if the other parent is likely to object or you are unsure of their whereabouts
• Collect your payment and contact records now, while they are easy to find

How we help. StepParent Adoption 360 is a document preparation service, not a law firm. You answer questions online, and we prepare the complete court document package for your Vermont county. You then file it yourself without an attorney. Court-ready documents arrive within 24-48 hours after you finish the questions, and our 100% court acceptance guarantee applies. The price is $349 for the first child and $99 for each additional child. We have helped 87 Vermont families, and more than 34,000 families nationally since 2001.