by Jennifer Emens-Butler , Esq .
WHAT ’ S NEW ?
Government Relations
Our government relations guru , Bob Paolini , has been busy tracking legislation , providing testimony and informing our members about the happenings in the Statehouse . Bob and our Executive Director , Teri Corsones , are our eyes and ears in the legislature . If something has an impact on the practice of law in Vermont , Bob is sure to inform our members and allow them to weigh in . Having a seat at the table is an essential benefit that the VBA provides to our members .
Bob has been posting to VBA Connect ’ s online communities in each substantive practice area affected by proposed legislation . Be sure to check your VBA Connect communities for up-to-date information on the face-paced world of legislation that may be affecting your practice . What follows is a mere sampling of items of interest to our members that Bob has been tracking , in no particular order :
PROBATE AND TRUST : Probate & Trust Section Co-Chair Mark Langan , with the assistance from the Probate and Trust Section , has proposed and successfully pushed through the House Judiciary H . 152 , the Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act . This has made crossover and is now in the Senate .
Co-Chair Bob Pratt , along with several probate judges , proposed S . 29 , a rewrite of an act relating to decedent ’ s estates rewrite . It is a voluminous bill which was not taken up , so it did not make crossover and will likely be considered next year .
REAL PROPERTY :
Member Andy Mikell with the assistance of Bob and others , presented a technical corrections bill related to clarifying ambiguities in real estate transfers named H . 290 , which passed the House .
REAL PROPERTY , PROBATE AND ALL SECTIONS :
There is a draft bill , relating to a complete restructure of the requirements for notaries . Some of what is proposed requires regular notary continuing education . Bob and Teri have been working hard to exempt lawyers from the bill or to at least remove most of onerous requirements for lawyers . The Real Property and Probate Section Chairs have been given regular updates on the status of this bill . As of this writing , the bill has not made it beyond committee draft and did not make crossover .
FAMILY LAW :
A set of alimony guidelines had been proposed by the Family Division Oversight Committee which were set forth in H363 , suggesting that those guidelines be incorporated into statute as required considerations for judges . Member and Section Chair Penny Benelli reached out to the Family Law Section and testified in support of the guidelines . S . 112 instead proposes a spousal support and maintenance task force to study alimony reform further . S . 112 has passed and is now headed to the House .
Bills adding a standard that joint custody be the preferred presumption in divorce cases were relayed to our Family Law community , where an engaging discussion ensued . The Family Law Section was divided , and the bills did not make the crossover deadline .
H . 502 relating to establishing a study committee to examine issues relating to parentage when assisted reproductive technology is used , as well as parentage in cases where a person without clear legal standing assumes the role of parent , has just been introduced . The issue has been shared with our Family Law Section .
A bill , H . 339 , proposing to authorize assistant judges to serve as mediators was introduced , with unanimous opposition from contributing members of the Family Law community . This bill did not make crossover .
BANKRUPTCY AND BUSINESS LAW :
Member Tom Moody and others testified in favor , generally , with a few areas of inquiry , of Vermont adopting the Uniform Voidable Transactions Act . H35 , which essentially codifies our fraudulent conveyance statute with uniform changes , passed the house , made crossover , and is up for consideration by the Senate in late March .
ALL SECTIONS :
House H . 4 which replaces 10-day time periods with 14 , and essentially codifies the calculation of “ a day as a day ” has made crossover and is in Senate Judiciary , late March .
Bob and Teri continue to observe testimony by the Court Administrator and others regarding the Judiciary budget . The funding of the judiciary is a critical issue for all of our members . The VBA continues to watch closely as testimony is heard regarding court security , guardians ad-litem , cost of living increases , and other matters . Testimony is sought and offered by members whenever inquiries are made as to the potential impact of any changes to the budget upon the needs of the public who are being served by the court system and its users .
20 THE VERMONT BAR JOURNAL • SPRING 2017 www . vtbar . org