Can I adopt my stepchild if there are unpaid child support arrears in Delaware?

Unpaid arrears are a financial issue separate from the adoption steps, and how they affect a Delaware stepparent adoption is something to confirm with the Family Court clerk or an attorney before you file. Your situation depends on the details of your child support order and your case, so it is worth getting that answer first. In the meantime, here is what Delaware's process does look at.

What Delaware's adoption process focuses on:

• Court: Your petition is handled by the Family Court in your county. Delaware has 3 counties.
• Your eligibility: For a minor child, 13 Del. C. § 903 requires you to be over age 21 when you file, and to be a Delaware resident or a person with whom the child has been placed under § 904. Delaware sets no minimum residency period.
• Child's consent: A child who is 14 or older has a consent role under 13 Del. C. § 907(b).
• Home study: Delaware does not waive the home study in stepparent adoptions (13 Del. C. § 912).
• Termination of the other parent's rights: This is handled as a separate step from the adoption itself.
• Timeline: Stepparent adoptions in Delaware typically take 4-6 months.

Where arrears and abandonment may overlap: If the other parent's rights are being ended on abandonment grounds, 13 Del. C. § 1103 uses a 6-month period. Whether missed support payments count toward abandonment, or whether paying some support changes the picture, depends on the facts. An attorney or the Family Court clerk can tell you how that applies to your case.

Questions to ask before you file:

• Does the adoption change or end the arrears already owed, or can they still be collected afterward?
• Should you try to collect the arrears first, or does it make sense to move ahead with the adoption?
• Does the other parent's payment history matter for the ground you are using?
• Are there fees or forms the clerk requires for your county?

You and your spouse may also want to talk through how much the arrears matter to you compared with finalizing the adoption. That is a personal decision, and an attorney can explain what each path means for you.

How we help: StepParent Adoption 360 is a document preparation service, not a law firm. You answer questions online, and we prepare the complete court document package for your county. You then file it yourself without an attorney. Court-ready documents are delivered within 24-48 hours after you finish the questions. The price is $349 for the first child and $99 for each additional child, and we back our work with a 100% court acceptance guarantee. We have helped 89 Delaware families and more than 34,000 families nationwide since 2001.