We divorced and remarried — can my spouse adopt my child now in Delaware?

Yes, a stepparent in Delaware can ask the Family Court to adopt a spouse's child, and your divorce and remarriage does not change the steps below. Whether your particular history affects anything else, such as an earlier custody order, depends on your facts. The Family Court clerk in your county or an attorney can confirm that for you.

What Delaware looks at:

• Your eligibility: Under 13 Del. C. § 903, you must be over 21 when the petition is filed. You must also be a Delaware resident, or a person with whom the child has been placed under § 904. Delaware sets no minimum residency period, so you do not need to have lived in the state for a set number of months.
• Where you file: The Family Court. Delaware has three counties, and the clerk in your county can tell you about local filing details and court fees.
• Your child's consent: Under 13 Del. C. § 907(b), the consent age is 14. If your child is 14 or older, plan for their consent to be part of the process.
• The other biological parent: Their rights have to be dealt with before an adoption can be finished. Delaware treats termination of parental rights as a separate step from the adoption itself. Abandonment is addressed in 13 Del. C. § 1103, which uses a period of 6 months. If the other parent is unknown, unreachable or likely to contest, that is a fact-specific situation. Talk to the Family Court clerk or an attorney about it.
• Home study: Delaware does not waive the home study for stepparent adoptions (13 Del. C. § 912), so expect it to be part of your case.

Does the earlier divorce matter? The Delaware requirements above are about your age and residency, consents, the other parent's rights and the home study. Whether the court treats a prior divorce or remarriage in any particular way is not something we can promise from the statutes. If your situation involves an older custody or support order, or a divorce from the child's other parent, ask the clerk how it should be presented.

Timeline: Stepparent adoptions in Delaware generally take about 4-6 months. Your own timing will depend on how quickly consents, the home study and your hearing date come together.

Practical tips:

• Gather your marriage certificate and the child's birth certificate before you start.
• Keep any divorce decrees or custody orders handy. They help show the family's history clearly.
• Check with the clerk about the filing fee, which is paid to the court and is separate from any document preparation cost.

How we help: StepParent Adoption 360 is a document preparation service, not a law firm.