This page organizes the recorded statewide starting rules and official sources for Delaware. Court location, local forms, fees, service, deadlines and individual eligibility still require confirmation before filing.
Source record reviewed: 2026-10-29 · Page updated: 2026-11-03 · Not attorney-certified legal advice
Generally at least 6 months of separation; this period does not apply when misconduct is the ground, but that ground must be proved. In cases with children, the process cannot proceed until the required education certificates are submitted.
Requests concerning ancillary matters, such as property division or spousal support, and their financial disclosures must be tracked separately.
Divorce Filing Path provides an intake roadmap and source links for this jurisdiction. Selected official PDF drafting is not currently offered for this state; do not purchase expecting state-form generation.
Generally, one spouse must have lived in Delaware or been stationed there as a member of the military for at least 6 months immediately before filing; special exceptions apply to civil unions. Record actual dates and do not combine two people’s residence periods unless the controlling rule expressly allows it.
Use the official statewide source to locate the trial court or clerk. Confirm venue, the family-law filing location, accepted filing method, current fee and required local packet.
Check whether the state distinguishes regular, joint, simplified, summary, contested or uncontested procedures. Agreement alone does not prove eligibility for a shorter procedure.
Prepare legal names, marriage and separation dates, residence history, children’s information, income, expenses, assets, debts, requested relief and existing orders.
Complete only facts you know. Leave clerk, court, signature, notarization, service and later-event fields for the correct person and stage.
A draft or download is not a filed case. Follow the clerk’s instructions and record service or waiver only after the legally effective event occurs.
Use current financial, child-jurisdiction, parenting and support documents. Settlement terms should match the procedure and be reviewed before rights are waived.
A waiting or separation period does not itself end a marriage. Confirm entry and the effective date from the court’s signed or entered order.
The ordinary rule is 6 continuous months of actual Delaware residence or military stationing before filing. Section 1504 provides a narrow nonresident branch for certain Delaware same-gender marriages/civil-union conversions; venue for that branch must be checked separately.
This intake question helps organize facts; it does not decide domicile, jurisdiction or venue for an individual case.
Open the official page and read the current instructions. A listed document may be conditional or require local additions.
Official opening documents and the marriage certificate.
Open official starting point ↗Documents concerning the spouses’ shared children under 18 and parenting education.
Open official starting point ↗Rules, forms, fees and local procedures can change. These links are the controlling starting points; the explanations on this site are preparation guidance, not a substitute for the current source.