Can both my spouse and I adopt each other's children from prior relationships in Delaware?

Yes, you can each pursue a stepparent adoption of the other's child in Delaware. Each of you would be the stepparent adopting your spouse's child from a prior relationship, and each adoption goes through Delaware's Family Court. Delaware's adoption law is in Delaware Code Title 13, Chapter 9. Whether the two adoptions can be filed together or must be filed separately is something the Family Court clerk in your county can confirm.

What each adoption involves: Treat each adoption as needing its own set of requirements. For each child, the stepparent adopting must meet the following:

• Adopter requirements: To adopt a minor, the adopting spouse must be over age 21 when the petition is filed and a Delaware resident, or a person with whom a child has been placed under the statute (13 Del. C. § 903).
• Residency: Delaware sets no minimum number of months you must have lived in the state. The requirement is simply being a Delaware resident, as described above (13 Del. C. § 903).
• Child's consent: A child who is 14 or older must consent to the adoption (13 Del. C. § 907(b)). If you have teenagers, each of them would give their own consent for the adoption that affects them.
• Home study: Delaware does not waive the home study for stepparent adoptions (13 Del. C. § 912). Ask the clerk how it applies when two adoptions are happening in one household.

The other biological parent: For each child, the other legal parent's rights matter. Delaware's abandonment period is 6 months (13 Del. C. § 1103). Ending a parent's rights is a separate process from the adoption itself. If the other parent is unknown, can't be found, or may object, the outcome depends on your specific facts. Talk to an attorney or the Family Court clerk about that situation before filing.

Timeline: Stepparent adoptions in Delaware typically run 4-6 months. How that works when two adoptions move together is a question for the clerk in your county.

After the adoption: If you have questions about updating a child's birth record once an adoption is final, the Delaware Office of Vital Statistics is the agency to ask.