Case Information
*-737 Vermont Supe1 ior Court *-730 Filed *-724 Lamoil e Unit *-689 CIVIL DIVISION
xVERMONT SUPERIOR
VE
COURT
Case No. 25-CV-01406 Lamoille Unit
154 Main Street
Hyde Park VT 05655
802-888-3887
www.vermontjudiciary.org
In Re: Adoption of K.P.
DISMISSAL *-503
This case has a complicated procedural history. A divorce action was originally filed in the *-487 Lamoille Family Division, resulting in a 2019 final order giving sole parental rights to the child
K.P. to her mother Amanda Perretta. See Order for Final Parental Rights and Parent Child
Contact, Amanda Perretta v. Brandon Perretta, No. 155-12-18 Ledm (Sept. 5, 2019).
By 2021, Ms. Perretta now Ms. Adams had married Scott Adams and the couple were
living with K.P. in St. Johnsbury. Mr. Adams, with his wife's consent, filed a petition in the
Caledonia Probate Division to adopt K.P. and terminate the parental rights of K.P.'s biological
father Brandon Perretta. See In re K.P., 21-PR-04598. Mr. Perretta then filed a motion to modify
parent-child contact in the original domestic case in the Lamoille Family Division.
The Lamoille Family Division thereafter granted the Adamses' motion to transfer the *-342 Caledonia Probate case and consolidate it with the domestic case in the Lamoille Family Division *-327 per 15A V.S.A. § 3-207 and 4 V.S.A. § 455. Entry Order, 155-12-18 Ledm (Dec. 14, 2023). On
March 17, 2025, the Family Division issued a decision (1) denying the termination petition, and
(2) granting the motion to modify to allow a step-up parent-child contact schedule with Mr.
Perretta over the next year, with a further hearing or status conference to be set in May 2026.
The Adamses thereafter noticed an appeal to the Civil Division. See 15A V.S.A. § 3-506(b) (order
denying petition to terminate parental relationship is final order for purposes of appeal).
With certain exceptions not relevant here, the Civil Division has appellate jurisdiction to
review decisions of the Probate Division. 12 V.S.A. §§ 2551, 25538; V.R.C.P. 72. When the two
underlying cases here were consolidated, however, the adoption case was transferred to the
Lamoille Family Division, the Probate Division ceased to exercise jurisdiction, and both cases
proceeded in the Family Division. 15A V.S.A. § 3-207 and 4 V.S.A. § 455.
Although the Civil Division generally has "appellate jurisdiction of matters originally
within the jurisdiction of the Probate Division," 12 V.S.A. § 2553, the court is unaware of any
authority for the Civil Division to exercise appellate jurisdiction over decisions made by the
Family Division, either in the first instance or following a transfer from the Probate Division. See
Cameron v. Rollo, 2014 VT 40, { 14, 196 Vt. 346 (no "overlapping jurisdiction" between Civil and *-77 Family Divisions); Id. at { 24 (Dooley, J., dissenting) (cautioning against "horizontal appeal" from
Page [1] of 2
Order
25-CV-01406 In Re: Adoption of K.P.
Family Division to Civil Division). Accordingly, the court concludes that this appeal to the Civil
Division must be dismissed, and any appeal of the Family Division’s decision must be noticed to
the Vermont Supreme Court in accordance with the Vermont Rules of Appellate Procedure.
Electronically signed on: 4/2/2025 pursuant to V.R.E.F. 9(d)
_______________________________________
Benjamin D. Battles
Superior Court Judge
Order Page [2] of [2]
25-CV-01406 In Re: Adoption of K.P.