Filing Procedures

"Filing" means to give documents for a case to the court. You can bring or mail the documents to the court, file by email, or file documents electronically (e-file).

Make a copy of all documents you file for the other party, and a copy for your records.

Where to File

A document starting a case – usually called a complaint or petition – must be filed with the court that has the authority to handle it. This is called jurisdiction.

The superior court has six divisions, and each of those divisions has jurisdiction over specific types of cases.

Civil Division

  • General civil cases, including breach of contract, personal injury, medical malpractice, wrongful death
  • Eviction, foreclosure and land disputes
  • Small claims
  • Sexual assault and stalking
  • Appeals from the Probate Division

Criminal Division

  • Felony and misdemeanor cases
  • Criminal record expungements and sealings
  • Treatment courts, including adult drug, juvenile drug, mental health, and driving under the influence cases.
  • Some civil cases, such as civil suspensions of driver's licenses, contested fish and wildlife fines, and appeals of decisions involving traffic and municipal ordinance violations.

Environmental Division

  • Appeals from municipal panels, Act 250 decisions, and the Agency of Natural Resources and Natural Resources Board
  • Municipal enforcement actions
  • Agency of Natural Resources and Land Use Review Board (formerly Natural Resources Board) enforcement actions

Family Division

  • Divorce, separation, and civil union dissolution
  • Parentage
  • Child support and child custody
  • Modification and enforcement of child support, child custody and visitation orders
  • Relief from abuse
  • Juvenile delinquency and child abuse or neglect
  • Caring for people mental illnesses and developmental disabilities.

Judicial Bureau

  • Traffic violations
  • Municipal ordinance violations
  • Fishing, hunting, and trapping violations
  • Alcohol and tobacco violations
  • Burning and waste disposal, environmental and lead hazard abatement violations
  • Cruelty to animal violations
  • Non-criminal marijuana violations

Probate Division

  • Adoptions
  • Guardianships
  • Emancipation
  • Correction and establishment of birth, death, and marriage records,
  • Probate of estates, trusts, and wills

Supreme Court

The Vermont Supreme Court reviews cases from state courts and agencies.

 

After the initial petition or complaint has been filed with the court, all other documents are filed in the clerk's office of the court handling the case.

Filing in Person or by Mail

You can file paper documents in person at the court, or mail them to the court. 

 

Filing fee

If you're filing something that requires a filing fee, you must pay the fee or your case may be delayed or dismissed. If you can't afford the fee, you can ask the court to consider waiving it. See the Application to Waive Filing Fees and Service Costs web page for more information and forms. 

If you're not asking to have the filing fee waived these are ways you can pay the filing fee:

  • You can use a check or money order made out to Vermont Superior Court.
  • You can use a credit card. There is a 2.39% convenience fee to pay by credit card. 
  • If you are filing in person you can pay with cash. Do not mail cash. 

 

If you are filing in person, take the documents to the clerk's office. You can also put documents in the court’s drop box. There is a drop box located at the entrance of each courthouse.

If you are filing by mail, address your envelope to the proper division of the court. The Court Locations web page provides addresses for all state courts. You may want to follow up with a phone call to the court to make sure they received your filing.

Filing by Email

You can file documents by email. To do this, email the court where your case is being handled and attach the documents you want to file. The preferred format for documents filed by email is PDF.

Follow up with a phone call to the court after a few days to make sure they received your filing. Some courts receive a large volume of email and it may be some time before they are able to act on your message. If your filing is urgent, you may want to consider other filing options. 

You can find email addresses for all courts on the Court Email Addresses web page or the Court Locations web page.

 

Filing fee

If you are filing something that requires a filing fee, you must pay the fee or your case may be delayed or dismissed. If you can't afford the fee, you can ask the court to consider waiving it. See the Application to Waive Filing Fees and Service Costs web page for more information and forms. 

If you aren't asking to have the filing fee waived you can pay the filing fee by credit card over the phone. There is a 2.39% convenience fee to pay by credit card. Include your phone number in the body of your message and say you want to make your payment over the phone. The court will contact you to take your payment.

 

Subject line

If you are filing documents in an existing case, include the case number and court where filing is made in the subject line. For example:

Subject: 24-SC-9999, Essex Civil Division

If you do not know your case number or where your filing was made, contact the Information Center: 802-652-1900. 

 

Signature

The documents you file must include a signature.

  • You can use an electronic version or scanned copy of your signature.
  • The signature can be your typed name with /s/ in front of it. For example:  /s/ Jane Doe 

Other kinds of signatures are also allowed. If you have questions about signature options, contact the Information Center: 802-652-1900.

E-Filing

People representing themselves can choose to file documents electronically. This is called e-filing. The Vermont Judiciary uses a system called Odyssey File & Serve (sometimes referred to as OFS or eFile& Serve).

If you choose to e-file, you must e-file for the entire case. You cannot switch back and forth between e-filing and paper filing. 

 

Fees

There are additional costs if you choose to e-file:

  • $14 fee for the first time you file in a case using OFS. For example:
    • You are starting a new case.
    • You used to have an attorney representing you, but now you are representing yourself and want to use OFS.
    • You are the defendant in a case and you are using OFS to file your answer.
  • 2.89% processing fee if you pay by credit card.
  • $1.00 per case if you pay by eCheck.

These case types do not have filing fees:

There is no OFS fee in any of the listed case types.

You do not have to pay the OFS fee if you are asking to waive fees. If the court decides you do not qualify for a fee waiver, you will have to pay the fee then.

 

Register for an E-filing Account

Go to Odyssey File and Serve web page and click on “Register.”  You will need a valid email address. After you complete the online form, you will get a confirmation email.  Click the link in the email to complete the registration process.

 

OFS Help

The Electronic Filing web page includes links to Odyssey File & Serve User Guides and how-to videos.

 

"Flattening" Fillable PDF Files

If you are e-Filing a fillable PDF (which includes all court forms posted on this website), you must first save it as a "flat file." Otherwise, the filing will fail and you will need to refile. To "flatten" a completed fillable PDF form:

  1. Right click on document and select Print. If the document opens in Adobe, Select File and select Print.
  2. Select the PDF printer. (The Adobe PDF printer is installed automatically with Adobe Acrobat. Numerous free PDF printer drivers are available for download online.)
  3. Select OK.
  4. Specify location to save the printed, "flattened" version of the form.
  5. Select Save.

See the Electronic Filing web page for more information.

 

E-Filing Support

Odyssey File & Serve is hosted by Tyler Technologies, which provides technical customer support to users. Court staff have only a limited ability to help with e-filing questions and problems. For help:

Exhibits

Exhibits are documents, records, or other objects formally introduced as evidence in court. The judge will decide at your hearing if your exhibits meet legal criteria to be admitted into evidence as part of the record if they are asked to be admitted.

Exhibit list: When you submit exhibits, you should also include an exhibit list. The exhibit list should include the exhibit label and a brief description of the exhibit. If the exhibit was submitted via the Vermont Digital Evidence Portal, you should also include the VDEP number. If an exhibit is a physical item, please indicate this on the exhibit list.

For example, an exhibit list might look like this:

Exhibit 1 Photograph of car bumper   
Exhibit 2 Video footage 2/1/2023 VDEP Number: PLF_M10001  
Exhibit 3 Contract signed 12/1/1988  
Exhibit 4 Broken container (physical exhibit)   

Exhibit labeling: You must label each of your exhibits. If your exhibits are documents, you should mark the exhibit in the upper right corner of the first page. If your exhibits are in VDEP, you should write the exhibit label in the VDEP description field. Defendants and respondents should use letters to mark their exhibits (Exhibit A, Exhibit B, Exhibit C…). Plaintiffs, petitioners, and any other party should use numbers (Exhibit 1, Exhibit 2, Exhibit 3…)

Information about sending your exhibits to court:

  • Filing paper documents or PDFs: If you are an efiler, you should file your exhibits in EFS. If you are not an efiler, you can email or mail in your paper or PDF exhibits. To view the user guide about efiling exhibits, please visit the Electronic Filing webpage.
  • Digital exhibits: Exhibits that are audio, video, or non-PDF files should be submitted via the Vermont Digital Evidence Portal (VDEP). For information about using VDEP please visit the Vermont Digital Evidence Portal webpage.
  • Physical exhibits: You are responsible for transporting or mailing physical exhibits to the courthouse.

If you have any questions, please contact the local court. Their contact information will be noted on your hearing notice.

Filing Deadlines

Court cases and documents filed in court cases have deadlines. Documents must be filed before the deadline, and different documents have different deadlines.

Deadlines are governed by court rules, such as the Vermont Rules of Civil Procedure and Vermont Rules for Family Proceedings.

Many deadlines are calculated from the day the party was served. Vermont Rule of Civil Procedure 6 defines how to calculate deadline dates:

  • Do not count the day the party was served. For example, if a party was served on June 17:
    • June 17 is day 0
    • June 18 is day 1
    • June 19 is day 2, etc.
  • Do count the last day, unless it is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday. For example, if someone has 21 days to file a document and day 21 is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, their last day to file the document would be the end of the next business day.
    • If the time period is stated in days, count intermediate Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays.
    • If the time period is stated in hours, count intermediate Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. If the period would end on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, the period continues to run until the same time on the next business day.

There are other requirements. Read the rule carefully.

If documents are filed in person, the filing party must be in the clerk's office before closing. Some courts do not accept filings shortly before closing. Contact court staff to ask about local procedures.

Filing Fee

There is a filing fee to start most cases, and to file some documents in some existing cases. The Fees web page lists all filing fees.

There is no filing fee for these cases: 

If you can't afford the filing fee, you can ask the court to consider waiving them. See the Application to Waive Filing Fees and Service Costs web page for more information and forms.

If you're not asking to have the filing fee waived these are ways you can pay the filing fee:

  • You can use a check or money order made out to Vermont Superior Court.
  • You can use a credit card. There is a 2.39% convenience fee to pay by credit card. 
  • If you are filing in person you can pay with cash. Do not mail cash. 
Serving Papers on the Other Party

All documents filed with the court must be "served" on all parties in the case. "Serving" means delivering the forms or documents to the other parties.

There are different rules for serving documents to start a case and for serving documents once a case has started. There are also different rules for different case types. For example:

Notarization

Some documents filed with the court must be notarized. You can tell if a notarization is required by looking at the signature section. If you see a place for "Signature of notary public" or something similar, the document must be notarized.

Court staff can notarize documents filed in person. Many banks and town clerk’s offices also offer notary services.