DRM Family Law Group: Divorce Lawyers Serving Vermont

The experienced, dedicated divorce attorneys at Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC can help you successfully navigate the legal issues and other challenges involved in divorce or separation in Vermont and in Clinton, Essex and Warren counties in New York.

From simple uncontested actions to conflict-ridden situations involving highly complicated financial arrangements - our goal, always, is to effectively pursue the strategy that will best serve the needs of our clients.

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.

To help you get the process started, we offer a free initial consultation to discuss your options with regard to legal separation, divorce, civil union dissolution or other family law legal services. In addition, we provide an optional checklist that can help you get the most from the initial consultation. To assist you further, we’ve provided a link to the state of Vermont’s judiciary website and child-support calculator tool.

To schedule a free initial consultation, contact Amber Barber or Caryn Waxman, co-chairs of the DRM Family Law Group.

Knowledgeable and sensitive, DRM’s divorce attorneys address the intricacies of divorce and separation every day.

We handle all matters related to legal separation and divorce, including child custody, child support, visitation, alimony, property and pension distribution, post-divorce modifications and civil union dissolution. 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 at the heart of our work.
 

DRM’s lawyers have the experience and knowledge to guide clients through divorce or separation where complex marital assets such as business valuations, pension and retirement plans, stock portfolios and real property are involved.

Caryn Waxman and Amber Barber, co-chairs of the DRM Family Law Group, have each practiced family law exclusively for more than a dozen years. Both are regularly invited to address lawyers and other professionals on divorce matters and related complex financial issues.

In divorce, separation, alimony and child support matters - where certain financial and business assets are involved - attorneys from DRM’s real estate, estate planning, business law, taxation or other relevant practices may join forces with the Family Law Group to create a formidable team to represent our client’s interests.

Contact Us

To schedule a free initial consultation, contact Amber Barber or Caryn Waxman co-chairs of the DRM Family Law Group.

 

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.
• Incurable insanity.

  
  

  Whichever ground a party relies on, it must be 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.

  
   

The DRM Family Law Group represents clients throughout the state of Vermont and in New York’s Clinton, Essex and Washington counties. We welcome clients from Bellows Falls, Brattleboro, Burlington, Charlotte, Colchester, Dorset, Essex, Manchester, Middlebury, Montpelier, Morristown, Newport, Norwich, Quechee, Rutland, Shelburne, St. Albans, St. Johnsbury, Stowe, Vergennes, Waterbury, Weston, White River Junction, Williston, Winooski and other Vermont towns and villages.