Probate Family Allowance Requirements in Vermont

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Three court-set support routes

Vermont does not use a fixed-dollar family allowance. Under 14 V.S.A. § 316, the Probate Division may award a reasonable amount for the necessary support and maintenance of the surviving spouse and minor children, or either, when they constitute the decedent's family.

Sections 317 and 318 add child-only routes. Both authorize reasonable necessary support until the child reaches age 18 and permit the court to order the executor or administrator to retain enough estate assets. Both routes are unavailable where the will makes provision for the children's support.

Funding, duration, and estate solvency

The § 316 award may come from the personal estate or the income of real or personal estate. It begins at death and ordinarily lasts only until estate settlement or the assignment of the recipients' shares. If the estate is insolvent, it may last no more than eight months after administration is granted.

Sections 317 and 318 contain no dollar ceiling. Their age endpoint is 18, and their asset-retention mechanism can reserve enough estate property for the ordered support. The current sections state no fixed filing deadline or separate claimant-death or spouse-remarriage cutoff.

Different priority rules for each route

The court may give the § 316 spouse-and-family allowance priority over estate debts, but that priority is discretionary.

Section 317 is expressly a before-payment-of-debts route. Its allowance must be made before estate distribution among creditors, heirs, or beneficiaries under a will. Section 318 operates after debts have been paid but before partition or division among heirs or will beneficiaries.

Court procedure and proof

None of §§ 316 through 318 creates an automatic payment. The Probate Division must make the allowance, and for child support it may order the executor or administrator to retain assets.

The three sections state no special verified or notarized petition, prescribed service list, mandatory attachments, hearing-notice rule, or evidence standard. The statutory findings are a reasonable amount and necessary support expenses; §§ 317 and 318 also require attention to whether the will already provides for child support.

Inheritance effect and waiver

Section 311 calculates the spouse's intestate share after the § 316 and § 317 allowances, along with debts, funeral charges, and administration expenses. Section 319 likewise calculates the elective share from the probate-estate balance after allowances, claims, and expenses. The allowance sections do not state that the award is later charged against the recipient's share.

Under § 323, a spouse may waive a homestead or other allowance wholly or partly before or during marriage through a signed writing. The statute permits challenges based on voluntariness, fraud, duress, coercion, unconscionability, disclosure, and meaningful access to independent counsel. A guardian or sufficiently authorized agent may sign for the spouse under the section's authority rules.

What trips people up

• Eight months is only the insolvent-estate cap. A solvent-estate § 316 award instead ends at settlement or assignment of shares.
• The child routes occupy different stages. Section 317 acts before creditor distribution; § 318 acts after debts but before partition or division.
• A will can block the child asset-retention routes. Sections 317 and 318 each except a case where the will provides for child support.
• Priority under § 316 is discretionary. The statute says the allowance “may” take priority over estate debts; it does not create automatic first priority.

Common questions

Is there a maximum dollar amount?

No fixed amount appears in §§ 316 through 318. The court sets a reasonable amount for necessary support and maintenance.

Does a child qualify only if there is no surviving spouse?

No. Section 316 covers the spouse and minor children, or either. Sections 317 and 318 separately cover children until age 18.

Does the family allowance include Vermont's separate household-goods award?

No. Section 312 creates a separate spouse motion for household furnishings. Sections 316 through 318 are the support-and-maintenance provisions covered here.

Statutes and sources

• 14 V.S.A. § 316 — spouse-and-family eligibility, funding, duration, insolvent-estate cap, and discretionary debt priority (accessed August 3, 2026).
• 14 V.S.A. § 317 — child support to age 18 before estate distribution, asset retention, and will-support exception (accessed August 3, 2026).
• 14 V.S.A. § 318 — child support after debts but before partition, asset retention, and will-support exception (accessed August 3, 2026).
• 14 V.S.A. § 311 — allowances paid before the intestate-share calculation (accessed August 3, 2026).
• 14 V.S.A. § 319(a) — allowances paid before the elective-share calculation (accessed August 3, 2026).
• 14 V.S.A. § 323 — signed spouse waiver and validity safeguards (accessed August 3, 2026).