Vermont Best Interests of the Child: The 9 Factors Courts Use to Decide Custody

When Vermont parents can't agree on custody, the family court judge must evaluate nine statutory factors under 15 V.S.A. § 665(b) to determine what arrangement serves the child's best interests. The judge is required to make specific written findings on each factor — this isn't a gut-feeling decision.

Understanding how each factor works gives you a concrete framework for building your case, whether you're negotiating a settlement or preparing for trial.

The Nine Factors, Explained

Factor 1: Love, Affection, and Guidance

The court evaluates the emotional bond between your child and each parent. Evidence matters here: who attends school events, who helps with homework, who the child turns to when upset. Judges look for genuine, day-to-day engagement rather than performative displays during litigation.

Factor 2: Physical Needs and Safety

Can you provide adequate food, clothing, medical care, and a safe physical environment? This includes the condition of your home, the stability of your housing situation, and your ability to meet your child's material needs. A parent's financial resources matter but aren't dispositive — a parent with lower income isn't automatically disadvantaged.

Factor 3: Developmental Needs

This factor examines each parent's ability to support cognitive, emotional, and social development. Courts look at who reads to the child, facilitates friendships, supports extracurricular activities, and addresses behavioral or learning challenges.

Factor 4: Continuity and Adjustment

How well is your child adjusted to their current home, school, and community? Courts are reluctant to disrupt stable arrangements. If your child is thriving in their current school district and neighborhood, the parent who can maintain that continuity has an advantage under this factor.

Factor 5: Fostering the Other Parent's Relationship

This is one of the most heavily litigated factors in Vermont custody cases. The court analyzes each parent's willingness to encourage frequent contact between the child and the other parent. Parents who demonstrate alienating behavior — badmouthing, blocking phone calls, interfering with scheduled contact, manipulating the child against the other parent — routinely lose custody under this factor.

The message from Vermont case law is clear: the parent who supports the child's relationship with the other parent is more likely to win primary responsibility.

Factor 6: Primary Caregiver History

Who has historically handled daily caregiving? The court examines who prepares meals, manages bedtime routines, takes the child to medical appointments, and coordinates school logistics. Primary caregiver status carries significant weight, but it's not automatically decisive. If both parents have genuinely shared daily caregiving throughout the child's life, the court may find this factor neutral.

Factor 7: Extended Family Relationships

The quality of the child's relationships with grandparents, step-siblings, and other household members. If your child has strong bonds with relatives in your home, this factor supports your case.

Factor 8: Cooperation and Joint Decision-Making

Can you and your co-parent communicate effectively enough to make shared decisions? If not, the court will refuse to approve shared legal responsibility under the agreement constraint (15 V.S.A. § 665(a)). Poor communication history pushes the court toward sole responsibility.

Factor 9: Evidence of Abuse

Any history of domestic violence, child abuse, or coercive controlling behavior. Since Vermont's 2024 Act 103 amendment, coercive control — including isolation, financial control, surveillance, and threats — now formally falls under the statutory definition of abuse. An active Relief From Abuse order directly impacts custody outcomes.

How to Use These Factors

Document everything that demonstrates your strengths under each factor. Keep records of school involvement, medical appointments, communication with your co-parent, and your child's daily routine. When you draft your parenting plan, frame your proposals around how they serve each specific factor.

The Vermont Child Custody & Parenting Plan Guide includes a best-interest self-assessment worksheet that walks you through each factor with prompts tailored to Vermont law, helping you identify your strongest arguments before mediation or trial.

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