Can I adopt my stepchild in Delaware if I was previously married to someone else?

Yes, a previous marriage is not one of the petitioner requirements for a stepparent adoption in Delaware. The rule for adopting a minor, 13 Del. C. § 903, looks at your age and residency: you must be over 21 when the petition is filed, and a Delaware resident or a person with whom the child has been placed. Delaware Code Title 13, Chapter 9 is the law that governs these adoptions.

What about your marital history? The Delaware requirements we work from do not address prior marriages, divorces or how many you have had. If you want to know what paperwork the Family Court expects to see about your current marriage or an earlier one, the Family Court clerk in your county can confirm it. For a question specific to your situation, an attorney can advise you.

What the Family Court looks at instead:

• Your age and residency. You must be over 21 at filing. Delaware sets no minimum number of months you must have lived in the state under 13 Del. C. § 903.
• Consent from a child who is 14 or older. Under 13 Del. C. § 907(b), the child's own consent matters once they reach 14.
• The other biological parent. Their consent is part of the picture. If they are not involved, the abandonment period is 6 months under 13 Del. C. § 1103. Delaware treats termination of parental rights as a separate step. A contested case, or one where the other parent cannot be found, depends on your specific facts, so talk with the clerk or an attorney.
• A home study. Delaware does not waive the home study for stepparent adoptions (13 Del. C. § 912), so plan for one.

Timeline: Stepparent adoptions in Delaware typically take 4-6 months. The Family Court clerk can confirm the current filing fee and any local steps.

Why your history shouldn't hold you back: Many blended families include a parent who was married before. The requirements above are about the child's best interests and the legal parents' rights, not about how many relationships came before this one. You are parenting this child now, and adoption can make that official.

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 arrive 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 it with a 100% court acceptance guarantee. We have helped 89 Delaware families, and more than 34,000 families nationally since 2001.