How old do you have to be to adopt in Delaware?

In Delaware, you must be over age 21 when the adoption petition is filed to adopt a minor child. That rule is in 13 Del. C. § 903, which also requires you to be a Delaware resident (or a person with whom a child has been placed under the statute's placement provisions).

Adopting a minor (including a stepchild):

• You must be over 21 on the day the petition is filed, so the date of filing is what counts.
• You must be a Delaware resident. Delaware does not set a minimum number of months you must have lived in the state, but you do need to meet the residency requirement in 13 Del. C. § 903.
• The petition is handled by the Family Court.

Adopting an adult:

Delaware allows adult adoption. Under 13 Del. C. § 951, a person being adopted as an adult must be over 18. That section does not state a minimum age for the person adopting. The adult being adopted must appear in court and consent, as 13 Del. C. § 953 requires. The petition is filed in the Family Court of the county where any petitioner or any person being adopted lives. Petitioners can be:

• an individual,
• a married couple petitioning jointly, or
• an unmarried couple petitioning jointly if they are cohabiting.

Is there an age gap requirement?

Neither 13 Del. C. § 903 nor 13 Del. C. § 951 states an age gap between the adopting person and the person being adopted. If your situation involves a small age difference, or you're unsure how the court will view it, the Family Court clerk in your county or an attorney can confirm how it applies to you.

Other things to know as a stepparent:

• Age is only one part of eligibility. Consent from the other legal parent, or a termination of that parent's rights, is a separate question. In your case, it depends on the facts, so ask the clerk or an attorney about your specific situation.
• Delaware's abandonment period is 6 months under 13 Del. C. § 1103. Whether it applies depends on your family's circumstances.
• If the child is 14 or older, the child's own consent is part of the process under 13 Del. C. § 907(b).
• A home study is not automatically waived in Delaware (see 13 Del. C. § 912), so plan for that step.
• Stepparent adoptions in Delaware typically take 4-6 months. Adult adoptions typically take 2-3 months.
• Filing fees are set by the court, so the Family Court clerk in your county can tell you the current amount. After the adoption, the Delaware Office of Vital Statistics is the agency that handles updated birth records.

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. The price is $349 for the first child (or for one adult adoptee) and $99 for each additional child. Court-ready documents are delivered within 24-48 hours after you finish the questions, and we back them with a 100% court acceptance guarantee. We have helped 89 Delaware families, and more than 34,000 families nationwide since 2001.