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House amends, passes bill clarifying notice for confirmatory adoptions
Summary
The Vermont House amended and passed H.98 to clarify notice and consent requirements when confirmatory adoptions involve a person with a potential claim to parentage; the committee reported the amendment favorable on a 7-0-4 vote and the full House approved the change and then the bill by voice vote.
The Vermont House on Feb. 20 amended and passed H.98, an act relating to confirmatory adoptions, clarifying when and how a petitioner must notify and, where necessary, obtain consent from a person who may have a legal claim to parentage in cases involving nonmarital parents.
Representative Malone (Member from South Burlington) told the House the amendment was drafted to provide “a little more clarity” about when a court is to issue an order and what the notice requirement should be for nonmarital parents. Malone said the amendment specifies the notification process and the process for consent in those rare instances when someone besides the petitioner may have a legal claim to parentage.
The amendment was reported favorable out of committee on a 7-0-4 vote, Malone said, and the House voice-voted to adopt the amendment. After amendment, the House proceeded to third reading and approved H.98 by voice vote. The House did not record a roll-call tally on the floor votes.
The amendment targets language in subdivision G(2)(B) of the bill, which concerns confirmatory adoption petitions where nonmarital parentage could be implicated. Malone said the vast majority of cases do not involve another person who must consent, based on testimony received by the committee, but the amendment aims to set a clear process for notification and consent in the less common situations that do.
The action was procedural on the floor: committee consideration produced the detailed clarification, the body adopted the committee amendment, and then the bill passed on third reading by voice vote. The transcript does not record a roll-call vote or additional floor debate on the substance beyond Malone’s explanation and the voice votes on the amendment and final passage.
What happens next: the bill, as amended and passed by the House, will follow the normal process for enactment (further chamber consideration or enrollment as applicable). The committee-level vote and the amendment text govern the clarified notice and consent steps described by Malone.
