Evidence, law and practical guidance
Resources for informed, child-centered reform.
These resources help explain Vermont’s current family-law framework, how it developed, what research tells us about children after separation, and why family continuity matters.
A clear place to begin
Start With These Three
Vermont’s Law in Context
Joint Custody Presumption in Vermont: A Proposal for Co-Parenting
Michelle A. Tarnelli, Vermont Law Review (2012)
This article examines Vermont’s restriction on court-ordered shared parental rights and compares Vermont’s approach with New Hampshire’s. It explains how the current rule can encourage adversarial behavior and prevent courts from preserving shared parenting when one parent objects.
Law review article · 21 pages
The Decision Behind the Current Rule
Cabot v. Cabot
Vermont Supreme Court (1997)
The majority held that courts cannot impose shared legal parental rights and responsibilities without parental agreement. Marilyn Skoglund, sitting by special assignment and later appointed to the Vermont Supreme Court, warned that this interpretation could reward noncooperation and undermine Vermont’s policy of maintaining children’s relationships with both parents.
Court decision · See the concurring and dissenting opinion
A Current Review of Children’s Outcomes
Systematic Review and Theoretical Comparison of Children’s Outcomes in Post-Separation Living Arrangements
Laura M. Vowels and colleagues (2023)
This open-access systematic review examined 39 studies comparing children in shared physical custody, lone physical custody and two-parent households. It found that children in shared arrangements generally experienced better outcomes than children in lone physical custody while also considering conflict, income, family selection and other possible explanations.
Peer-reviewed · Open access
Statutes and legal history
Vermont Law and Legal History
Vermont’s Public Policy
15 V.S.A. § 650 — Legislative Findings and Purpose
Vermont law declares that children should have the opportunity for maximum continuing physical and emotional contact with both parents after separation unless that contact is likely to cause direct physical harm or significant emotional harm to a child or parent.
Parental Rights and Responsibilities
15 V.S.A. § 665 — Rights and Responsibilities Orders
This is the central statute governing contested parental-rights decisions. It contains Vermont’s best-interest factors and existing safety protections, including consideration of abuse and the risk of harm.
It also provides that when parents cannot agree to divide or share parental rights and responsibilities, the court must award those responsibilities primarily or solely to one parent.
Access to Information
15 V.S.A. § 670 — Access to Records
This statute generally protects a parent’s access to medical, dental, law-enforcement and school records, subject to the court’s authority to restrict access when necessary.
Access to records, however, is not necessarily the same as receiving timely notice of appointments, activities, schedule changes and important decisions.
Vermont Parentage Act
Title 15C — Parentage Proceedings
The Vermont Parentage Act recognizes the many ways legal parentage may be established, including birth, adoption, acknowledgment, de facto parentage, assisted reproduction and gestational-carrier agreements. It reflects how significantly Vermont families have changed since the current parental-rights framework was enacted.
Vermont’s Parenting-Plan Form
Form 825 — Agreement on Parental Rights and Responsibilities, Parent-Child Contact and Child Support
The Judiciary’s form asks agreeing parents to address schedules, holidays, exchanges, transportation, information sharing, communication, important decisions and methods for resolving future disagreements.
Many proposed reforms would ask courts to provide comparable clarity when parents cannot reach a complete agreement themselves.
Evidence and child development
Research and Child Development
Research concerning separation, parenting arrangements and child well-being has expanded substantially.
Joint and Sole Physical Custody
Child Adjustment in Joint Physical Custody Versus Sole Custody: A Meta-Analytic Review
Amandine Baude, Jessica Pearson and Sylvie Drapeau (2016)
This meta-analysis of 19 studies found a small average adjustment advantage for children in joint physical custody. The association was also affected by how much time children spent with each parent.
Parental Conflict and Cooperation
Re-Examining the Research on Parental Conflict, Coparenting, and Custody Arrangements
Linda Nielsen (2017)
This review examines whether parental conflict, litigation or imperfect cooperation should automatically rule out shared physical custody. It is especially relevant to Vermont’s current treatment of parental disagreement.
Young Children and Parenting Plans
Social Science and Parenting Plans for Young Children: A Consensus Report
Richard A. Warshak (2014)
This report reviews developmental and attachment research concerning infants, toddlers, overnights and relationships with both parents. It supports frequent involvement by both safe parents in ordinary circumstances while recognizing the need to consider each child and family individually.
Plain-Language Introduction
Myths and Truths About Shared Parenting and Child Well-Being
National Parents Organization
This short advocacy handout summarizes frequently raised questions about shared parenting and provides citations to supporting research. Readers who want a deeper understanding should also examine the underlying studies.
Leading Researchers
Richard A. Warshak
Parenting plans, young children, relocation and children’s adjustment after separation.
Linda Nielsen
Research on shared physical custody, father-daughter relationships, and children’s outcomes after divorce.
William V. Fabricius
Parenting time, parent-child relationships, parental conflict and long-term health.
Michael E. Lamb
Parent-child relationships, fathers’ roles and child development.
Robert E. Emery
Divorce, mediation, parental conflict and parenting across two homes.
Explore Additional Research
Grandparents and extended family
Grandparents and Family Continuity
When a parent dies, children may be grieving both the parent and the disruption of relationships with grandparents and the deceased parent’s extended family.
Vermont law provides some avenues for maintaining those relationships, but they are limited and must respect the constitutional rights of a fit surviving parent.
Vermont’s Grandparent-Visitation Law
15 V.S.A. Chapter 18 — Grandparents’ Visitation
Section 1012 addresses circumstances in which a parent has died, cannot make a decision or has abandoned the child. Section 1013 identifies the factors courts consider when deciding whether visitation is in the child’s best interests.
Plain-Language Vermont Overview
Grandparents’ Visitation Rights — Vermont Law Help
A general explanation of Vermont’s existing grandparent-visitation law and the circumstances under which a grandparent may seek contact.
Constitutional Framework
Troxel v. Granville
United States Supreme Court (2000)
This decision establishes constitutional limits on court-ordered third-party visitation over the objection of a fit parent. It is essential context for legislation intended to preserve important grandparent relationships while respecting parental authority.
Comparison with Other States
Grandparent and Third-Party Visitation Rights: A 50-State Survey
This survey compares who may seek visitation, when a petition may be filed and the constitutional standards states apply following Troxel.
Books and practical reading
Books and Practical Guides
The 50/50 Solution
Johnson presents an accessible, research-informed case for equal parenting time after separation. She examines children’s well-being, the changing caregiving and employment roles of mothers and fathers, parental conflict, family economics and the consequences of placing one capable parent in a secondary role.
The book is an advocacy-oriented examination of shared parenting rather than a neutral literature review. It provides a useful introduction to the reform argument and can be considered alongside the peer-reviewed research collected above.
Two Homes, One Childhood
Two Homes, One Childhood: A Parenting Plan to Last a Lifetime
Robert E. Emery
Emery offers developmentally focused guidance for raising children across two homes. He explains how parenting arrangements can adapt as children grow and how parents can keep children’s needs—not adult conflict—at the center of family decisions.
Together, these books offer complementary perspectives: Johnson explains the case for equal shared parenting, while Emery focuses on creating workable arrangements that respond to children’s changing needs.
For families and professionals
Professional Resources and Tools
Creating Workable Parenting Plans
A Guide for Joint Custody and Shared Parenting
Association of Family and Conciliation Courts
This guide addresses parenting schedules, communication, holidays, activities and methods for resolving future disagreements, including mediation and counseling.
Professional Standards
Professional guidance concerning mediation, parenting coordination, parenting-plan evaluations, intimate-partner violence and the responsible use of social-science research.
Parent-Child Contact Problems
AFCC and NCJFCJ Joint Statement on Parent-Child Contact Problems
This joint professional statement calls for careful, evidence-informed responses to damaged or resisted parent-child relationships. It cautions against automatically treating either family violence or alienating behavior as the explanation in every case.
Communication and Scheduling Technology
OurFamilyWizard is one example of a commercial co-parenting platform designed to organize messages, schedules, expenses and family information.
It is part of a much larger field of communication and dispute-management tools that did not exist when much of Vermont’s current framework was developed. Inclusion is provided as an example, not an endorsement.
Continue exploring
Additional Research Organizations
National Parents Organization
Shared-parenting research, public education and family-law advocacy.
Child Trends
Nonpartisan research concerning children, families, parenting and family transitions.
Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
Research on child development, adversity, resilience and stable relationships with caring adults.
National Council on Family Relations
Research and professional resources concerning families, divorce, coparenting and family policy.
How to use this library
About These Resources
These materials include legal authorities, peer-reviewed research, professional guidance and advocacy resources. They represent different perspectives, and inclusion does not mean Vermont Kids Connected agrees with every conclusion or proposal in a source.
No single study or publication answers every family-law question. We provide these resources to encourage informed, child-centered discussion.
This page provides general educational information, not legal advice. Laws and online resources may change.
Last reviewed: July 2026
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