{"data":{"id":"us-vt/15a-v.s.a.-2-402","jurisdiction":"us-vt","citation":"15A V.S.A. § 2-402","heading":"Persons whose consent not required","body":"(a) Consent to an adoption of a minor is not required of:\n(1) a person who has relinquished parental rights or guardianship powers, including the right to consent to adoption, to an agency pursuant to this part of this article;\n(2) a person whose parental relationship to the minor has been judicially terminated or determined not to exist;\n(3) a man who has not been married to the woman who gave birth to the minor and who, after the conception of the minor, executes a notarized statement denying paternity or disclaiming any interest in the minor and acknowledging that his statement is irrevocable when executed;\n(4) the personal representative of a deceased parent’s estate; or\n(5) a parent or other person who has not executed a consent or a relinquishment and who fails to file an answer or make an appearance in a proceeding for adoption or for termination of a parental relationship within the requisite time after service of notice of the proceeding.\n(b) The court may dispense with the consent of:\n(1) a guardian or an agency whose consent is otherwise required upon a finding that the consent is being withheld unreasonably, contrary to the best interest of a minor adoptee; or\n(2) a minor adoptee who has attained 14 years of age upon a finding that it is not in the best interest of the minor to require the consent.","path":["Title 15A: Adoption Act","Chapter 002: Adoption of Minors","Subchapter 004: CONSENT TO AND RELINQUISHMENT FOR ADOPTION"],"source_url":"https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/15A/002","current_through":"2025 session","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T17:17:00Z","sha256":"ae3ca2e9a00b4a63e0a1f0e83878ac8435c3b6d68f654b4bb0f02faeb47e8164","source_id":"us-vt","stale":false,"prev":"us-vt/15a-v.s.a.-2-401","next":"us-vt/15a-v.s.a.-2-403"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}