Divorce & Separation

Our Divorce & Separation Services

We handle all matters related to separation and divorce, including:

• Division of Assets

• Child Custody

• Child Support

• Parenting Agreements and Parent Child Contact Schedules

• Alimony

• Property and Retirement/Pension Distribution

• Agreed Upon or Stipulated Divorces and Separations

From simple agreed upon, uncontested actions to high-conflict situations involving custody or complicated financial matters — our goal, always, is to effectively pursue the strategy that will best serve the needs of our clients.

We advise and counsel our clients, dispute and resolve legal issues, and aggressively pursue litigation or negotiate settlements as our clients’ needs and circumstances require.

We have negotiated successful resolutions on behalf of clients in highly contentious situations. In cases where child custody and child support are involved, we endeavor to keep the best interests of the children as the focus of our work.

Knowing what to expect in the course of a legal matter can help ease your stress. When you entrust your case to us, we strive to keep you fully informed about the status of your case and to make sure you know which steps will follow until your matter is fully resolved.

Divorce and Legal Separation in Vermont

Divorce and separation are governed by state law. The Vermont legislature has established the following grounds for divorce or separation:

• Separation, where the parties have lived apart for six consecutive months, and the Court finds that the resumption of marital relations is not reasonably probable.

• Adultery.

• The confinement of either party in prison for three years or more. The party must actually be confined at the time the divorce action is brought.

• Intolerable severity — when one party persists in misconduct to an extent that causes or threatens to cause injury to life, limb or health of the other party. Injury can be indirectly caused by grief, worry or mental distress caused by the party’s misconduct.

• Willful desertion — when either party has been absent for seven years and not heard from during that time.

• Persistent refusal or neglect, without cause, of spouse when a party has the monetary and physical means to provide suitable maintenance to the other.

• Permanent Incapacity.

The most common ground parties proceed with in Vermont is having lived separate and apart for six consecutive months with the resumption of marital relations not reasonably probable. Parties continue to reside together during those six consecutive months, in the same household if their shared intent is to remain separated pending a final divorce or legal separation.

Whichever ground a party relies on, the grounds must be agreed upon or proven. Unless both parties’ consent to the divorce, there may be a trial where the Court will hear testimony about the allegations which must be proven to the satisfaction of the Court. The exact type and amount of evidence necessary to prove a certain ground are established by prior cases.

Alimony and Spousal Support

In the state of Vermont, when a divorce or dissolution of a civil union is granted, the Court may order either spouse to make temporary or permanent maintenance payments (alimony or spousal support) to the other spouse if the Court finds that the spouse requesting maintenance lacks sufficient income/assets to meet his/her reasonable needs.

Other factors the Court may consider include:

• The spouse’s ability to support him/herself at the standard of living established during the marriage.

• The cost and length of time necessary for the spouse requesting maintenance to obtain education/training to find appropriate employment.

• The length of the marriage.

• The age and health of the parties.

• The ability of the spouse from whom maintenance is requested to meet his/her reasonable needs while paying maintenance.

• Guidelines.

Property Distribution

Property ownership and division of the assets of a marriage are usually decided at a final hearing. If the respective parties to a divorce can agree on a division of their property (real and personal), then this may be incorporated into a property settlement agreement to be presented to the Court for approval.

While every case turns on its specific facts, generally speaking, all property that was acquired during the course of the marriage, regardless of whose name the property is held in, will be divided between the parties on an “equitable basis.” The Court also has the authority to distribute premarital property, inheritances and separate property.

We are experienced with matters involving complicated, high-asset property, pension and retirement distribution, preparation of Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDROs), stock portfolios and real property issues.

Factors the Court may consider in distributing marital property include:

• The length of the marriage.

• The age and health of the parties.

• The occupation, source, and amount of income of each of the parties.

• Vocational skills and employability.

• The contribution by one spouse to the education, training, or increased earning power of the other.

• The value of the property interests, liabilities, and needs of each party.

• Whether the property settlement is in lieu of or in addition to maintenance.

• The opportunity of each for future acquisition of capital assets and income.

• The desirability of awarding the family home or the right to live there for reasonable periods to the spouse having custody of the children.

• The party through whom the property was acquired.

• The contribution of each spouse in the acquisition, preservation, and depreciation or appreciation in value of the respective states, including the non-monetary contribution of a spouse as a homemaker.

• The respective merits of the parties.

Agreed Upon, Uncontested Divorce and Legal Separation

If parties agree on all issues in a divorce or legal separation, they can file an uncontested action. In an uncontested action, parties file an agreement resolving all aspects of a divorce at the same time they submit all of the signed divorce or legal separation papers necessary to file for a divorce or legal separation. The Court charges a reduced filing fee for uncontested actions and there is generally only one brief Court Hearing to finalize the divorce. 

Even when parties are in agreement on how to resolve their divorce, it can be difficult to know what needs to be filed with the Court or how to formalize a final agreement. In an agreed upon, uncontested action, parties must have a written agreement addressing all aspects of a divorce, including the distribution of property, alimony (spousal support) and, where there are minor children, custody, visitation, and child support.

Barber & Waxman can simplify this process by drafting all necessary paperwork and an agreement that will address a comprehensive resolution of your divorce or legal separation.