Section 2 - Discretionary Procedures Available to the Court in an Action Under VRFP 4.0 - 4.3In any action under V.R.F.P. 4.0-4.3, the court may on the application of any party or on its own initiative:
(a) Convene an early status conference within thirty days of commencement of any case, for purposes of determining which pilot court program shall be utilized by the parties. The parties must attend a status conference convened under this subdivision, whether or not they are represented, unless excused by the court on written request made prior to the date of the conference. (b) Require the parties to attend a Children's Panel. (c) Award costs, fees for attending court-ordered programs, temporary attorney's fees, and expert witness fees when appropriate in light of the respective needs and income of the parties. (d) Bifurcate the issues in the action in order to make a final order establishing parental rights and responsibilities, parent-child contact and child support while the parents continue to litigate property settlement. (e) Require each party, at least three days prior to the first scheduled hearing, to file and exchange the financial information required by 15 V.S.A. § 662 and V.R.F.P. 4.0(g)(6), 4.1(b)(4), or 4.2(c)regardless of whether there are children of the marriage. A judge or magistrate may award costs and reasonable attorney's fees if a party fails to file or exchange the required information and material on time and may impose sanctions upon any attorney who fails to file or exchange the required financial information on behalf of a party, unless the party or attorney shows good cause for the failure. (f) Consolidate actions as follows: (1) Whenever there are two or more actions in Family Court involving the same child, the presiding judge may, when the best interests of the child will be served thereby, consolidate the actions in a new action entitled "In re: [name of child]". (2) All documents filed and all evidence received by the court in any of the actions being consolidated shall be made a part of the file in the consolidated action and shall be available to the court for any purpose in connection with the consolidated action. All proceedings and all orders issued in the actions being consolidated shall continue to apply, subject to the further order of the court. (3) Whenever actions under different statutes are consolidated, the presiding judge shall, in the order of consolidation, determine which of the Vermont Rules for Family Proceedings apply, which judicial officers may sit, and whether attorneys may withdraw from the consolidated action. (4) The court shall preserve the confidentiality of any documents, evidence and proceedings as required by law. (5) The dismissal of one action shall not automatically result in the dismissal of all actions that have been consolidated. (g) Appoint a visitation master pursuant to V.R.C.P. 53(1) to receive evidence and make findings on parent-child contact issues. (2) The court may establish a reasonable fee for the services of the master, together with reimbursement of actual and necessary expenses. The court may order that costs of the master be paid by a party, as justice may require, or it may order that costs be paid by the state. (h) Appoint a neutral evaluator to hold a meeting with the parties for discussion of all aspects of the action related to property distribution. The purpose of this procedure is to reduce the cost and duration of litigation by providing an early opportunity for realistic settlement negotiations or, in the absence of settlement, narrowing issues and structuring discovery and trial preparation to avoid unnecessary delay and expenditure of resources by the parties and the court. (1) The court may establish a reasonable fee for the services of the evaluator, together with reimbursement of actual and necessary expenses. The court may order that some or all of the costs of the evaluator be paid by a party or shared by the parties or it may order that some or all of the costs be paid by the state. (2) The evaluator shall have broad discretion in structuring the meeting. The meeting shall be informal and the rules of evidence shall not apply. There shall be no formal examination or cross-examination of witnesses. (3) The evaluator shall help the parties to identify areas of agreement, shall assess the strengths and weaknesses of their contentions and evidence and explain the reasons for the assessments, and shall estimate, where feasible, an equitable division of the marital property and the likelihood and range of a spousal maintenance award if one party is requesting spousal maintenance. (4) The evaluator shall explore the possibility of settlement and shall help the parties to enter a stipulation, where feasible. (5) Within 15 days of the meeting, the evaluator shall file with the court, and send to the parties, a report on the results of the session, stating whether full or partial settlement was reached and, where appropriate, describing any stipulation entered to narrow the scope of the dispute and any agreement made to limit discovery, facilitate future settlement or otherwise reduce cost and delay associated with trial preparation, including the scheduling of an additional meeting. (6) The report shall not disclose the evaluator's assessment of any aspect of the case or any substantive matters discussed during the meeting, except as necessary to describe any stipulation or agreement made as a result of the meeting. (7) All written and oral communications made in connection with or during the meeting shall not be disclosed by the evaluator or the parties and shall be treated as settlement negotiations under Rule 408 of the Vermont Rules of Evidence. This paragraph shall not apply to any stipulation or agreement to narrow the scope of the dispute, facilitate future settlement or otherwise reduce cost and delay that was approved by all parties. Vt. Admin. Ord. Of. Sup. Ct. 2