Terms Used In Vermont Statutes > Title 15 > Chapter 20 > Subchapter 3 - Enforcement

• Adjudicated parent: means a person who has been adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction to be a parent of a child. See
• Alleged genetic parent: means a person who is alleged to be, or alleges that the person is, a genetic parent or possible genetic parent of a child whose parentage has not been adjudicated. See
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Assisted reproduction: means a method of causing pregnancy other than sexual intercourse and includes:

• Birth: includes stillbirth. See
• Child: means a person of any age whose parentage may be determined under this title. See
• Child: means an individual who has not attained 18 years of age. See
• Child custody determination: means a judgment, decree, or other order of a court providing for the legal custody, physical custody, or visitation with respect to a child. See
• Child custody proceeding: means a proceeding in which legal custody or parental rights, physical custody, or visitation or parent child contact with respect to a child is an issue. See
• Court: means an entity authorized under the law of a state to establish, enforce, or modify a child custody determination. See
• Domestic: when applied to a corporation, company, association, or copartnership shall mean organized under the laws of this State; "foreign" when so applied, shall mean organized under the laws of another state, government, or country. See
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Fees: shall mean earnings due for official services, aside from salaries or per diem compensation. See
• following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
• Gestational carrier: means an adult person who is not an intended parent and who enters into a gestational carrier agreement to bear a child conceived using the gametes of other persons and not the gestational carrier's own, except that a person who carries a child for a family member using the gestational carrier's own gametes and who fulfills the requirements of chapter 8 of this title is a gestational carrier. See
• Gestational carrier agreement: means a contract between an intended parent or parents and a gestational carrier intended to result in a live birth. See
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Intended parent: means a person, whether married or unmarried, who manifests the intent to be legally bound as a parent of a child resulting from assisted reproduction or a gestational carrier agreement. See
• Issuing court: means the court that makes a child custody determination for which enforcement is sought under this chapter. See
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Marriage: includes civil union and any legal relationship that provides substantially the same rights, benefits, and responsibilities as marriage and is recognized as valid in the state or jurisdiction in which it was entered. See
• Parent: means a person who has established parentage that meets the requirements of this title. See
• Parentage: means the legal relationship between a child and a parent as established under this title. See
• Person: means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, government; governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality; public corporation; or any other legal or commercial entity. See
• Person: shall include any natural person, corporation, municipality, the State of Vermont or any department, agency, or subdivision of the State, and any partnership, unincorporated association, or other legal entity. See
• Person acting as a parent: means a person, other than a parent, who:

• Petitioner: means a person who seeks enforcement of an order for return of a child under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction or enforcement of a child custody determination. See
• Physical custody: means the physical care and supervision of a child. See
• Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form. See
• Respondent: means a person against whom a proceeding has been commenced for enforcement of an order for return of a child under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction or enforcement of a child custody determination. See
• Sign: means , with the intent to authenticate or adopt a record, to:

• State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U. See
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Warrant: means an order issued by a court authorizing law enforcement officers to take physical custody of a child. See