2023 Vermont Statutes › Title 15A - Adoption Act › Chapter 3 - General Procedure for Adoption › § 3-504. Grounds for terminating relationship of parent and child

§ 3-504. Grounds for terminating relationship of parent and child
(a) If a respondent answers or appears at the hearing and asserts parental rights, the court shall proceed with the hearing expeditiously. If the court finds, upon clear and convincing evidence, that any one of the following grounds exists and that termination is in the best interests of the minor, the court shall order the termination of any parental relationship of the respondent to the minor:
(1) In the case of a minor under six months of age at the time the petition is filed, the respondent did not exercise parental responsibility once he or she knew or should have known of the minor’s birth or expected birth. In making a determination under this subdivision, the court shall consider all relevant factors, which may include the respondent’s failure to:
(A) pay reasonable prenatal, natal, and postnatal expenses in accordance with his or her financial means;
(B) make reasonable and consistent payments, in accordance with his or her financial means, for the support of the minor;
(C) regularly communicate or visit with the minor; or
(D) manifest an ability and willingness to assume legal and physical custody of the minor.
(2) In the case of a minor over six months of age at the time the petition is filed, the respondent did not exercise parental responsibility for a period of at least six months immediately preceding the filing of the petition. In making a determination under this subdivision, the court shall consider all relevant factors, which may include the respondent’s failure to:
(A) make reasonable and consistent payments, in accordance with his or her financial means, for the support of the minor, although legally obligated to do so;
(B) regularly communicate or visit with the minor; or
(C) during any time the minor was not in the physical custody of the other parent, manifest an ability and willingness to assume legal and physical custody of the minor.
(3) The respondent has been convicted of a crime of violence or has been found by a court of competent jurisdiction to have committed an act of violence that violated a restraining or protective order, and the facts of the crime or violation indicate that the respondent is unfit to maintain a relationship of parent and child with the minor.
(4) The respondent has committed a sexual assault resulting in the conception of the child.
(b) If the respondent has proved by a preponderance of the evidence that he or she had good cause for not complying with subdivision (a)(1) or (2) of this section or that, for compelling reasons, termination is not justified under subdivision (a)(3) or (4) of this section, the court may not terminate the respondent’s parental rights to a minor except upon a finding by clear and convincing evidence that any one of the following grounds exists and that termination is in the best interests of the minor:
(1) Once the respondent no longer had good cause for not complying with the requirements of subdivision (a)(1) or (2) of this section, he or she failed to assume parental responsibilities as promptly and fully as circumstances permitted.
(2) The respondent, after being afforded a reasonable opportunity to do so, would not have the ability and disposition to:
(A) provide the child with love, affection, and guidance;
(B) meet the child’s present and future physical and emotional needs; or
(C) provide the child with adequate food, clothing, medical care, other material needs, education, and a safe environment.
(3) At the time of the hearing, the respondent has a relationship with another person who would significantly and adversely affect the child.
(4) Placing the minor in the respondent’s legal or physical custody would pose a risk of substantial harm to the physical or psychological well-being of the minor because the circumstances of the minor’s conception, or the respondent’s behavior during the pregnancy, or since the minor’s birth indicates that he or she is unfit to maintain a relationship of parent and child with the minor.
(c) At the time of the hearing under this section, the court shall consider the best interests of the child in accordance with the following criteria:
(1) the likelihood that the respondent will be able to assume or resume his or her parental duties within a reasonable period of time;
(2) the child’s adjustment to his or her home, school, and community;
(3) the interaction and interrelationship of the child with his or her parents, siblings, and any other person who may significantly affect the best interests of the child; and
(4) whether the parent or alleged parent has played and continues to play a constructive role, including personal contact and demonstrated love and affection, in the child’s welfare.
(d) If the respondent does not answer or appear or, in the case of an alleged father, file a claim of paternity as provided in subdivision 3-503(b)(2) of this title, or cannot be notified because the person’s identity or whereabouts is unknown, the court may order the termination of any parental relationship to the minor. (Added 1995, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 2017, No. 140 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. May 21, 2018.)