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Vermont Family Allowance
Support GuideVermont10 min read

Vermont Family Allowance

Vermont sets no dollar figure for the family allowance. 14 V.S.A. §§ 316 to 318 leave the amount to the Probate Division, and it comes off the top.

By Settled Editorial

Vermont attaches no dollar figure to its family allowance. The Probate Division decides the amount case by case, which means the useful answer to "how much" is a procedure rather than a number: who can ask, when the money can run from and to, and where the allowance sits against the estate's debts.

Three sections carry the law, all in 14 V.S.A. chapter 42, subchapter 2. Section 316 covers the surviving spouse and minor children. Sections 317 and 318 cover the decedent's children until they turn 18. This guide sets out what each one does. It is general information, not legal advice. Ask the Probate Division handling your estate or a licensed Vermont attorney before relying on any of it.

Section 316: Support While the Estate Is Open

14 V.S.A. § 316 is headed "Allowances for surviving spouse and family during administration". It lets the Probate Division of the Superior Court "make reasonable allowance for the necessary expenses of support and maintenance of the surviving spouse and minor children or either, constituting the family of a decedent, out of the personal estate or the income of real or personal estate."

Four things in that sentence do real work.

  • Reasonable, not fixed. No amount appears anywhere in the section. The court sets it.
  • Necessary expenses of support and maintenance. The allowance funds living costs while the estate is tied up. It is not an advance on an inheritance and it is not a share of the estate.
  • Spouse and minor children, or either. A surviving spouse alone can receive it. Minor children alone can receive it.
  • Out of the personal estate or the income of real or personal estate. The source is personal property or income, which matters in an estate whose value sits in land rather than cash.

The Two Time Limits

Section 316 runs "from date of death until settlement of the estate", with two stopping points written into the same sentence.

The ordinary stop is the moment the family's shares in the estate are assigned to them. Once a spouse or child receives what the estate owes them, the reason for support money ends.

The second stop applies only to an insolvent estate, and it is a hard eight months. Where the estate proves insolvent, the allowance runs "for not more than eight months after administration is granted". Note the anchor: eight months from the grant of administration, not eight months from death and not eight months from the finding of insolvency. If your estate cannot pay its debts, the order Vermont pays them in becomes the governing framework and the allowance window closes on a fixed date.

Priority Over Debts Is Discretionary

The last sentence of § 316 reads: "This allowance may take priority, in the discretion of the court, over debts of the estate."

That is permission, not a rule of classification. The claim priority ladder in 14 V.S.A. § 1205 does not list the family allowance at all, so the allowance sits outside that ladder and reaches ahead of it only when a judge says so. In practice this means the request has to be made, supported and argued rather than assumed. An executor who pays creditors first and asks about the allowance later has removed the court's ability to exercise the discretion the statute grants.

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Sections 317 and 318: Allowances for Children

Vermont carries two separate child allowances, and the difference between them is where they sit relative to the estate's debts. Both cap at age 18.

14 V.S.A. § 317, "Allowance to children before payment of debts." The court may make a reasonable allowance for the necessary expenses of support and maintenance of any children of the decedent until they reach 18 years of age, and may order the executor or administrator to retain sufficient estate assets for that purpose. The allowance "shall be made before any distribution of the estate among creditors, heirs, or beneficiaries by will." That is the strongest position any allowance holds in Vermont, and it is stated as a command rather than a discretion.

14 V.S.A. § 318, "Allowance to children after payment of debts." Before any partition or division of an estate among the heirs or beneficiaries, an allowance may be made on the same terms, and the Probate Division may again order assets retained for it.

Both sections carry the same exception: neither applies "where some provision is made by will for their support". A will that already funds the children's maintenance answers the question the allowance exists to answer.

Where the Allowance Sits Against Everything Else

A Vermont surviving spouse is usually deciding several things at once, and they interact.

14 V.S.A. § 319(a) gives an electing spouse one-half of "the balance of the probate estate, after the payment of allowances, claims, and expenses". Allowances come off the top, before the elective share is measured. Money paid as support is therefore not deducted from the spouse's half a second time, but it does shrink the pool the half is taken from. The full picture of the election, its four month clock and the homestead is on Vermont surviving spouse rights.

The family allowance is also not the same thing as the specific-item awards Vermont gives a surviving spouse. Household goods under § 312 and a vessel, snowmobile or all-terrain vehicle under § 313 are property, granted on motion, and they carry no dollar figure either. Those live on Vermont exempt property, and the two pages exist separately because readers routinely ask for one and mean the other.

Where there is no will, the allowance sits alongside the shares set by Vermont intestate succession rather than inside them.

How to Ask for It

There is no statewide "family allowance" form standing on its own. Two routes cover the ground.

  1. Motion in the estate. Sections 316, 317 and 318 all operate through the Probate Division in the county where the estate is pending. A motion states who needs support, what the necessary expenses are, what the estate holds in personal property or income, and what period the allowance should cover.
  2. Form 700-00049 for a surviving spouse. The Judiciary's Notice of Elections and/or Waivers by Surviving Spouse carries a request for support next to the elective share, the homestead and the household goods award. Every item has an elect box and a waive box, and the form closes with a line confirming that waivers cannot be revoked. Read all four decisions separately. A spouse who ticks waive down the page to simplify the paperwork gives up the support request along with everything else.

Do not look for the allowance in 14 V.S.A. chapter 41. That chapter, the old "Survivors' rights and allowances", was repealed in full, and stale summaries still point at it. Chapter 42 is the live law.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much is the Vermont family allowance?

Vermont names no amount. 14 V.S.A. § 316 lets the Probate Division of the Superior Court make a reasonable allowance for the necessary expenses of support and maintenance of the surviving spouse and minor children, and it leaves the figure to the court. Any source quoting a fixed Vermont family allowance is quoting another state's statute.

How long does the Vermont family allowance run?

From the date of death until settlement of the estate, under 14 V.S.A. § 316, but no longer than the point where the family's shares in the estate are assigned to them. An insolvent estate is the one case with a hard stop: there the allowance runs for not more than eight months after administration is granted.

Does the Vermont family allowance come before creditors?

It can. 14 V.S.A. § 316 says the allowance may take priority, in the discretion of the court, over debts of the estate. That is permissive rather than automatic, so it is asked for and argued rather than assumed. The allowance to children under 14 V.S.A. § 317 is stronger on this point: it is made before any distribution of the estate among creditors, heirs, or beneficiaries.

Who can receive a Vermont family allowance?

The surviving spouse and minor children, or either of them, under 14 V.S.A. § 316. Sections 317 and 318 add allowances for the decedent's children until they reach 18 years of age, and both let the court order the executor or administrator to retain enough estate assets to fund them, except where the will already provides for the children's support.

How do you ask for a Vermont family allowance?

By motion to the Probate Division handling the estate. A surviving spouse also meets the question on Judiciary form 700-00049, Notice of Elections and/or Waivers by Surviving Spouse, which carries a request for support alongside the elective share, the homestead, and the household goods award. Each item on that form has its own elect box and waive box.

Does taking a Vermont family allowance reduce the elective share?

It changes what the share is calculated on. 14 V.S.A. § 319(a) gives an electing spouse one-half of the balance of the probate estate after the payment of allowances, claims, and expenses, so an allowance paid out is money the elective share is measured after rather than money taken out of it twice.

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Sources:

It is not legal advice.

Information current as of August 4, 2026

Settled Estate is not a law firm, and this content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Probate laws and procedures in Vermont can change. Consult with a qualified attorney for advice specific to your situation. Full disclaimer.

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