Vermont Bar Journal, Vol. 40, No. 2 Fall 2015, Vol 41, No. 3 | Page 29

What Now?
As written, and in the case of a failure of
the proposed adoption, this law is not enforceable as claimed. In the case of a failed
adoption, the agreement is rendered moot
and irretrievable. Until and unless these
problems are rectified in the law, as a matter of practice, juvenile practitioners should
be wary of using a post-adoption contact
agreement as the basis or even as a reason
to recommend a voluntary relinquishment
of parental rights. But, if termination is inevitable, and the birth parent(s) wish to avoid
findings being recorded in their case, then
the practitioner can still use this agreement
as a persuasive tool just as unenforceable
letters of intent have been used for many
years.
____________________
Danielle Sweeney started with Eric S.
Louttit, Attorney at Law as a paralegal almost five years ago and is currently read-

www.vtbar.org

ing for the law with Eric as her supervising
attorney. She plans to sit for the bar exam
upon completion of her clerkship. Danielle
serves as a pack committee chairperson for
the Boy Scouts of America and has volunteered with at risk youth organizations for
many years.
Eric Louttit, Esq., is admitted to the Vermont State and United States District Court
bars. Aside from private practice, Eric holds
conflict contracts for criminal defense and
juvenile cases in Rutland and Windsor counties. He serves on the Board of Directors for
Recovery House, Inc., and served for years
on the Board of Directors for The Vermont
Achievement Center. He is an active participant in juvenile issues, both in the legal and
outside communities.

The Children’s Corner

to make the voluntary relinquishment and
the post-adoption contact agreement contingent upon the completion of the proposed adoption. In other words, if the adoption does not go through, the birth parent(s)
should be able to withdraw their voluntary
relinquishment since they relied upon the
agreement in voluntarily relinquishing their
parental rights and accepting the proposed
adoption in the first place.

____________________
1
http://legislature.vermont.gov/bill/status/
2016/S.9
2
http://legislature.vermont.gov/assets/Documents/2016/Docs/ACTS/ACT060/ACT060%20
As%20Enacted.pdf, at 25-32.
3
Id.
4
Id.
5
Id.
6
http://legislature.vermont.gov/assets/Documents/2016/Docs/ACTS/ACT060/ACT060%20
As%20Enacted.pdf, at 28 (emphasis added).

THE VERMONT BAR JOURNAL • FALL 2015

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