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Vermont County Court, Probate, Tax and Other Miscellaneous Records
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See Also Researching Court Records, Researching Probate Records, Research In Immigration & Naturalization Records and 
Researching Tax Records
On-Site County Court Records Search - Find nearly any Vermont court record online! Many court records are not digitized yet, which signifies the only way to obtain these records is by visiting the actual Pennsylvania courthouses. Someone from our network of court-runners will go retrieve the records and then send you the outcomes. Average response time is 38 hours. Vermont Civil Records include Lawsuits, Bankruptcies, Liens and judgments, Marriage/divorce judicial proceeding, Child custody, Civil rights violations ands Other. Vermont Criminal Records include Violent offenses, Theft and robbery, DUI/DWI's, Drugs and alcohol, Sexual crimes, Some traffic violations, Behavioral.
Definitions of Common Court Terms
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Vermont Court Records
See Also Research In State Court Records
Historically, the major purpose of the county system in Vermont was the operation of the county courts, which recorded deeds for unorganized towns, levied county taxes, heard civil and criminal matters, and granted divorces and naturalizations.
Before Vermont became independent (1777), New York and New Hampshire both claimed some county jurisdiction over Vermont land. For this reason, New York and New Hampshire records must be consulted even up to 1791.
Beginning in 1777, each county had one county court which heard both civil and criminal matters. The state supreme court served an appellate function. In 1967 district courts were added, covering territorial units within the counties. District court jurisdiction is not exclusively over criminal cases; it may also hear some civil cases. In 1974, the county courts were renamed superior courts, with countywide jurisdiction over all matters previously entertained by the county courts and not covered by district courts. Beginning in 1990, the superior court functions involving family matters (divorce, child custody, etc.) were transferred to one statewide family court with divisions of that court operating in each of the counties.
The Vermont Public Records Division now has microfilms of county court records for Bennington, Chittenden, and Windsor counties before 1825, with the only index available typed alphabetically by plaintiff for each book. The Division is continuing the microfilming of all the county court records and has completed Addison and Washington counties, although no comparable index exists for these. All of the originals will still be found in the county court offices, although using them is tedious work. Debts are the major subject of litigation in the courts.
- Submit a website for Vermont Court Records
- Order Vermont County Court, Civil or Criminal Records
- Vermont Court Books at Amazon.com
- Research In State Court Records
- Colonial Courts and Their Records
- State Courts and Their Records
- Federal Courts and Their Records
- Court and Legal Records
- Contents of Court Records
- Published Court Records
- Vermont Court, Land, Wills & Financial - Court records are an often overlooked, yet very valuable tool for finding information to assist you in your research. Land records, such as deeds, allow you to tie an ancestor to a specific place at a point in time. Other court records like those dealing with finances and estates often list related family members or give interesting details like the total value of property owned by your ancestors to add interest to your family history.
- Vermont Court Books at Amazon.com
- Vermont County Court Records
- Vermont County Criminal Records with a Criminal Background Check
- Vermont for Registered Sex Offenders in your local Area
Vermont Probate Records
See Also Research In State Probate Records
Probate Records were filed by probate district and not town, and probate districts do not strictly follow county lines. For Vermont's fourteen counties, there have been twenty probate districts. One of those districts, New Haven, disbanded in 1962. By percentage, few Vermonters who died in the state have probate records filed. Many people disposed of their holdings to one or more children in land transactions before death.
Probate records are only indexed by district. Neither a statewide index nor district-wide abstracts exist. District offices have indexes filed by decedent only. Microfilm indexes are available at Vermont Public Records Division and the FHL. Unlike the land records, the Vermont Public Records Division has not extensively continued the microfilming program of probate records. With some exceptions, only the official probate proceedings books were microfilmed to about 1850. Much more information exists in the original probate files that are held in the district itself, along with the probate records after 1850.
- Submit a website for Vermont Probate Records
- Research In Probate Records - from The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy.
- How to Locate Printed Probate Records
- Advantages of Printed Probate Records
- Limitations of Printed Probate Records
- Vermont Probate Books at Amazon.com
Vermont Immigration & Naturalization Records
See Also Research In State Immigration & Naturalization Records
Immigration: The "Saint Albans Passenger Arrival Records," so called, were maintained by the Immigration and Naturalization Service at St. Albans, Vermont, and span the years 1895-1954. This immigration district technically covered the entire U.S. Canadian border and documented people traveling by boat or train to the United States, entering through Canada. The original records, soundexed with three supplements, are at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C. A complete set of microfilms are at the National Archives-New England Region.
Naturalization: Naturalizations might have been applied for or obtained through either the county court or U.S. District Courts. The Public Records Division (See Land Records) holds microfilm copies of some naturalizations from 1836 to 1972. A complete WPA index, which includes Vermont, along with the rest of New England for 1790-1906, is held at the National Archives-New England Region.
- Submit a website for Vermont Immigration Records
- Vermont Immigration & Emigration - As our ancestors moved from one country to another, details about their lives were recorded on passenger lists and government documents. Immigration and emigration records can help you learn where your ancestors originally came from, where they went, when they left, who they traveled with, and more.
Vermont Tax Records
See Also Researching in Tax Records
Grand lists are the annual assessment for town tax purposes; they were taken every year for every town in Vermont. Many of them are extant, but they are not easy to find. Sometimes they appear as part of the proprietor or town meeting records (which may be in the town records microfilms at Vermont Public Records Division or the FHL) or sometimes in separate books (which might be in town clerks’ offices or vaults). The assessment might be for a poll (twenty-one-year-old male or eligible voter—“Freeman” in Vermont), acreage, buildings, cattle, yards of material produced, and clapboards milled. People taxed were not necessarily landowners.
