Proposed Amendments

The following Proposed Amendments are proposed by the Rules Committees and have not been reviewed by the Supreme Court.

Proposed Order Amending Rule 55(a) of the Vermont Rules of Civil Procedure

The proposed amendment to Rule 55(a) requires a movant to provide the legal basis for service outside the state when default judgment is sought. Under V.R.C.P. 4(e), service outside the state can be accomplished by complying with either the manner required for service within the state or “in any manner in which service may be effected under the laws of the state in which the person is served.” This amendment seeks to avoid delays in ascertaining proper service when a movant seeks default judgment and claims that service was made in conformance with out-of-state rules. The amendment puts the burden on the movant to provide the court with the statute or rule that contains the service requirements. 

Comments on this proposed amendment should be sent by June 7, 2026, to Bridget Asay, Esq., Chair of the Advisory Committee on the Rules of Civil Procedure, at the following address:

Bridget Asay, Esq., Chair
Advisory Committee on the Rules of Civil Procedure
BAsay@stris.com

Proposed Order Amending Rule 7(a)(7) of the 2020 Vermont Rules for Electronic Filing, and Rule 32(a)(1)(E) of the Vermont Rules of Appellate Procedure

The simultaneously proposed amendments to Efiling Rule 7(a)(7) and Appellate Rule 32(a)(1)(E) are to update the format requirements for electronic documents based on technical changes to the electronic filing system. The rules currently preclude electronically filed documents or appellate briefs from containing embedded hyperlinks or internal bookmarks because these caused format errors that prevented documents from being properly processed. Due to system changes, it is now permissible to include internal links, which point to other places within the same document. For example, a link in the table of contents to that part of the document. Therefore, the proposal deletes the restriction against including these internal links. The language of the rest of the rule is clarified to indicate that external live links to other documents or websites are still not permitted. 

Comments on these proposed amendments should be sent by June 7, 2026, to Hon. John A. Dooley (Ret.), Chair of the Advisory Committee on the Rules for Electronic Filing, at the following address:

Honorable John A. Dooley, (Ret.), Chair
Advisory Committee on Rules for Electronic Filing
John.Dooley@vtcourts.gov

Proposed Order Amending Rule 79(a) of the Vermont Rules of Civil Procedure

The proposed amendment to Rule 79(a) clarifies the date of entry on the civil docket for temporary, after-hours orders. There are several types of cases in which parties can seek emergency relief outside of regular court hours. If these orders are granted, they are effective right away but are not immediately entered into the case-management system. The proposed amendment provides that the date of the entry on the docket must reflect the date the order was signed and effective, not the date the order was actually entered into the case-management system.

Comments on this proposed amendment should be sent by June 7, 2026, to Bridget Asay, Esq., Chair of the Advisory Committee on the Rules of Civil Procedure, at the following address:

Bridget Asay, Esq., Chair
Advisory Committee on the Rules of Civil Procedure
BAsay@stris.com

Proposed Order Amending Rule 2(d) of the Vermont Rules for Family Proceedings

The proposed amendment to Rule 2(d) requires parties in CHINS and TPR proceedings to provide notice of intent to call a minor child as a fact witness under oath. The rule applies to all child witnesses in the proceeding not just the child who is the subject of the petition. The amendment further permits the court to order that special arrangements be made for the testimony in appropriate circumstances.

Comments on this proposed amendment should be sent by April 13, 2026, to Hon. Kerry Ann McDonald-Cady, Chair of the Advisory Committee on the Rules for Family Proceedings, at the following address:

Hon. Kerry Ann McDonald-Cady, Chair
Kerry.McDonald-Cady@vtcourts.gov
 

Proposed Order Amending Rule 4.3(b) of the Vermont Rules for Family Proceedings

The proposed amendment to Rule 4.3(b) strikes paragraph (b)(2) related to procedures for establishing wage withholding of child support and spousal support and replaces it with new paragraphs (2) and (3) describing the procedures under 15 V.S.A. § 782 and § 783, respectively. While there are some procedural similarities between the two statutory sections on wage withholding, there are also some material differences. The former paragraph (2) attempted to blend the procedures together which resulted in confusion regarding scheduling, the timing of objections, and the requirement that a hearing be held prior to the issuance of an order in cases where no objection is filed.

Comments on this proposed amendment should be sent by April 13, 2026, to Hon. Kerry Ann McDonald-Cady, Chair of the Advisory Committee on the Rules for Family Proceedings, at the following address:

Hon. Kerry Ann McDonald-Cady, Chair
Kerry.McDonald-Cady@vtcourts.gov
 

Proposed Order Amending Rule 5 of the Vermont Rules for Environmental Court Proceedings

Rule 5 is amended to mitigate delays experienced in proceedings before the Environmental Division by requiring that parties file and serve their statement of questions at the same time as filing and serving the notice of appeal or cross appeal. Under the existing rule, the statement of questions must be filed 21 days after the notice of appeal is filed. Other changes to the language and organization are made for ease of reading and clarity. 

Comments on this proposed amendment should be sent by April 13, 2026, to Bridget Asay, Esq., Chair of the Advisory Committee on the Rules of Civil Procedure, at the following address:

Bridget Asay, Esq., Chair
Advisory Committee on the Rules of Civil Procedure
BAsay@stris.com
 

Proposed Order Adding Rule 80.12 and Amending Rule 81(a) of Vermont Rules of Civil Procedure

Rule 80.12 is added to provide procedural rules for post-conviction relief (PCR) proceedings under 13 V.S.A. §§ 7131-7137. The new rule follows the statutory provisions and is intended to make the procedures and requirements more easily accessible to litigants, who are usually incarcerated and sometimes self-represented. Although the procedures are derived from the statutory provisions and consistent with the statutory requirements, some language is updated for clarity.

Rule 80.12(a) delineates the rule’s applicability in accordance with 13 V.S.A. § 7131, which provides a process for relief for a prisoner “in custody under sentence.” Rule 80.12(a) indicates that to the extent they are not inconsistent with the statute or this rule, the other civil rules apply; however, the criminal rules may apply if the civil division accepts a plea or imposes a new sentence pursuant to the parties’ stipulation or acts in some other manner as a criminal court. Rule 80.12(b) sets forth the requirements for the content of the petition. The rule requires the petitioner to identify the case number of the challenged judgment or sentence to assist the court in identifying the judgment or sentence being challenged. Rule 80.12(c) provides instructions on how to file a petition, in accordance with the statutory requirements.  Successive petitions are addressed in new 80.12(d).  Rule 80.12(e) provides that the judge assigned to a petition may not be the same judge who presided over the original judgment and sentence. Rule 80.12(f) pertains to service of the petition, the answer, and the victim notification. Rule 80.12(g) provides that the court may authorize discovery for good cause. This provision contains the substance of prior V.R.C.P. 81(a), which allowed discovery in PCR proceedings by court order for good cause.  Rule 80.12(h) sets forth the requirements for any evidentiary hearing held on a petition. Rule 80.12(i) provides the grounds and the mechanism for granting relief to petitioner. Under (i)(2), if the parties reach a stipulation and it is in the interests of justice, the civil division must resolve it if the stipulated relief involves entry of a plea or an agreed sentence. Under (i)(3), if the civil division finds based on the merits that there is a basis for relief, it must vacate the challenged judgment and remand the matter to the criminal division for further proceedings. Rule 80.12(j) provides that the court’s final order on a PCR petition is appealable to the Supreme Court as provided in 13 V.S.A. § 7135. 

Rule 81(a) is amended to remove the reference to proceedings for post-conviction relief under 13 V.S.A. §§ 7131-7137, as the procedures for these proceedings are now addressed in new V.R.C.P. 80.12.

Comments on these proposed amendments should be sent by April 13, 2026, to Bridget Asay, Esq., Chair of the Advisory Committee on the Rules of Civil Procedure, at the following address:

Bridget Asay, Esq., Chair
Advisory Committee on the Rules of Civil Procedure
BAsay@stris.com
 

Proposed Order Amending Rule 60(c) of the Vermont Rules of Probate Procedure

Rule 60(c) is amended to replace the word “served” with “filed” to clarify that the time deadline applies to filing with the court. This word change is also consistent with the triggering action for the time deadline for a motion to alter or amend in V.R.C.P. 59(e).

Comments on this proposed amendment should be sent by February 4, 2026, to Hon. Kathryn Kennedy, Chair of the Advisory Committee on the Rules of Probate Procedure, at the following address:

Hon. Kathryn A.C. Kennedy
Kathryn.Kennedy@vtcourts.gov
 

Proposed Order Amending Rule 3(k) of the Vermont Rules of Criminal Procedure

The proposed amendments provide clarity and flexibility regarding after-hours requests for bail or conditions of release following arrest.  The proposed amendment deletes the existing sentence which requires that “[t]he affidavit or sworn statement must indicate the crimes to be charged by the arresting officer,” as it is the prosecuting attorney who is solely authorized to charge criminal offenses. Second, the proposal provides that “[t]he procedures and standards established by the Presiding Judge of each unit pursuant to V.R.Cr.P. 5(b) must require that the affidavit or sworn statement include the charge or charges that the prosecuting attorney intends to file, and may require that the affidavit also include any conditions of release, including bail or an order to hold without bail, that the prosecuting attorney is requesting.” This provides clarity as to a judge’s authority to require the arresting officer to include in the affidavit a statement of a prosecuting attorney’s intended charges and recommended bail or conditions of release for the individual. 

Comments on this proposed amendment should be sent by November 5, 2025, to Hon. John Treadwell, Chair of the Advisory Committee on Rules of Criminal Procedure, at the following address:

Honorable John Treadwell, Chair
Advisory Committee on Rules of Criminal Procedure
John.Treadwell@vtcourts.gov
 

Proposed Order Amending Rule 13 of the Vermont Rules of Probate Procedure

This proposal reorganizes the rule regarding the statutory election rights and allowances available to a surviving spouse and minor children in accordance with amendments made to the relevant statutes in 2017. The rights of the surviving spouse and any minor children are now addressed separately and timeframes for the exercise of the rights are identified.  

As the homestead interest of the surviving spouse in Title 27 differs from the election in Title 14, both the title of the rule and the delineation of the rule have been modified to reflect the distinction. The homestead interest is not subject to a statutory deadline for its exercise. The proposed rule requires the spouse to exercise the right “within four months following the later of the date of service of the notice of election and rights or the date of service of the inventory.” In the absence of legislative changes to the homestead provisions, this timeframe provides clarity and consistency.

Comments on this proposed amendment should be sent by December 6, 2025, to Hon. Kathryn Kennedy, Chair of the Advisory Committee on the Rules of Probate Procedure, at the following address:

Hon. Kathryn A.C. Kennedy
Kathryn.Kennedy@vtcourts.gov