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Delaware Family Court: Custody and Parenting-Time Guide

Plain-language Delaware information for a custody or parenting-time route, including filing, official forms, free help, fee waivers, and legal-cost context.

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This page provides general legal information, not legal advice. State law, court rules, forms, and local procedures can change. Confirm current requirements with the court handling the case.

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Find the right family court

The custody or parenting-time route described in this guide is handled through the Family Court of the State of Delaware. Other family-law matters can follow a different court or procedure.

Find the court for your area.

How Delaware courts decide custody

Delaware Family Court decides legal custody and residential arrangements according to the child's best interests.Sources:Title 13, Chapter 7, Subchapter II, Custody Proceedings

  • The best-interests factors include the parents' and child's wishes, the child's relationships and adjustment, the health of people involved, each parent's compliance with parental responsibilities, domestic violence evidence, and relevant criminal history.Sources:Title 13, Chapter 7, Subchapter II, Custody Proceedings

Key legal sources

Parenting time

Delaware law uses the term visitation for the schedule between a child and the parent with whom the child does not primarily reside.Sources:Title 13, Chapter 7, Subchapter II, Custody Proceedings

  • The court determines a visitation schedule consistent with the child's best interests and maturity, designed to permit frequent and meaningful contact unless it finds after a hearing that contact would endanger the child's physical health or significantly impair emotional development.Sources:Title 13, Chapter 7, Subchapter II, Custody Proceedings

Key legal sources

How to file

This route covers an initial Delaware custody petition by a parent who lives separate and apart from the other parent. It excludes divorce, parentage, modification, enforcement, emergency, third-party, adoption, interstate, and an unreachable military-respondent case requiring a Motion to Appoint an Attorney.Sources:Custody, Title 13, Chapter 7, Subchapter II, Custody Proceedings

  1. Prepare the required initial forms

    Delaware Family Court lists Petition for Custody (Form 345), Custody Separate Statement (Form 346), and Information Sheet (Form 240) as required for acceptance. It lists the Custody, Visitation, and Guardianship Disclosure Report (Form 364) as required before mediation or the first court appearance.Sources:Family Court Custody Forms

  2. File the petition with the Family Court

    For custody, the Delaware Family Court filing-requirements page lists an original and one copy for each respondent. The custody statute says a parent commences this proceeding by filing a custody petition in the county where the child permanently resides or is found.Sources:Family Court Filing Requirements, Title 13, Chapter 7, Subchapter II, Custody Proceedings

  3. Follow the court's service and case-process instructions

    The Family Court says the respondent must be personally served with a summons and a copy of the petition. After positive service is returned, the case is normally referred to mediation; the court lists an exception when there is a domestic-violence finding or current no-contact order concerning the parties.Sources:Custody

Official forms

Open the official forms portal.

  • The Delaware Family Court custody forms page separates forms required for filing, the report required before mediation or the first court appearance, and situational forms. Use the current official forms and review every listed situation that applies.Sources:Family Court Custody Forms

Free court self-help

Find court self-help near you.

  • Delaware Legal Help Link

    Area served: Delaware

    The directory provides referral information about free civil legal services and maintains a directory of pre-screened organizations offering free or low-cost legal help.Sources:About Delaware Legal Help Link

    Eligibility: The directory identifies nonprofit legal-aid organizations and other community resources; consult the listed provider for its own intake requirements.

  • Community Legal Aid Society, Inc.

    Area served: Delaware, with offices in New Castle, Kent, and Sussex Counties

    CLASI describes free assistance for low-income parents facing Division of Family Services intervention in the parent-child relationship, including dependency, neglect, abuse, and termination-of-parental-rights matters.Sources:Family Legal Services

    Eligibility: CLASI describes its family service as for low-income parents facing Division of Family Services intervention; it says staff review whether an applicant is eligible and has a matter the organization handles.

Fee waivers

Delaware law permits a person who cannot prepay all court costs and fees to seek permission to proceed in forma pauperis under court rules.Sources:10 Del. C. § 8802, In forma pauperis

Who may qualify

  • The statute requires a sworn affidavit with information sufficient for the court to determine ability to pay, including income, property, accounts, dependents, debts, and monthly expenses.Sources:10 Del. C. § 8802, In forma pauperis

What to do

  1. Complete the current Family Court affidavit

    The Family Court forms catalog identifies Affidavit in Support of Application to Proceed in Forma Pauperis (Form 257), revised October 21, 2025. The statute requires a sworn affidavit for an in-forma-pauperis request.Sources:Affidavit in Support of Application to Proceed in Forma Pauperis, Form 257, 10 Del. C. § 8802, In forma pauperis

Official fee-waiver forms

Key statute or rule

Attorney cost benchmark

Lawyer fees vary by county, experience, services, and the facts of a case. This state benchmark is context for planning, not a quote.

State and local details to confirm

  • When a parent files a Delaware custody petition, the court says a preliminary injunction is served immediately on the petitioner and with the petition on the respondent, and it also orders both parents to take a parenting education class.Sources:Custody, Title 13, Chapter 7, Subchapter II, Custody Proceedings

Part of Family Law in Your State.