The Family Court of the State has jurisdiction over all actions for divorce and annulment of marriage where either petitioner or respondent, at the time the action was commenced, actually resided in this state, or was stationed in this state as a member of the armed services of the United States, continuously for 6 or more months immediately preceding the commencement of the action. The divorce may be filed in the county in which either spouse resides. (Delaware Code - Title 13 - Chapters: 1504, 1507)

The Court shall enter a decree of divorce whenever it finds that the marriage is irretrievably broken and that reconciliation is improbable. (Delaware Code - Title 13 - Chapters: 1505)

In a proceeding for divorce or annulment, the court shall, upon request of either party, equitably divide, distribute and assign the marital property between the parties without regard to marital misconduct, in such proportions as the court deems just after considering all relevant factors including: (a) The duration of the marriage; (b) Any prior marriage of the party ; (c) The age, health, station, amount and sources of income, vocational skills, employability, estate, liabilities and needs of each of the parties; (d) Whether the property award is in lieu of or in addition to alimony; (e) The opportunity of each for future acquisitions of capital assets and income; (f) The contribution or dissipation of each party in the acquisition, preservation, depreciation or appreciation of the marital property, including the contribution of a party as homemaker, husband, or wife; (g) The value of the property set apart to each party; (h) The economic circumstances of each party at the time the division of property is to become effective, including the desirability of awarding the family home or the right to live therein for reasonable periods to the party with whom any children of the marriage will live; (i) Whether the property was acquired by gift; (j) The debts of the parties; and (k) Tax consequences. (Delaware Code - Title 13 - Chapters: 1504, 1513)

The alimony order shall be in such amount and for such time as the Court deems just, without regard to marital misconduct, after consideration of all relevant factors, including, but not limited to: (a) The financial resources of the party seeking alimony, including the marital or separate property apportioned to him or her, and his or her ability to meet all or part of his or her reasonable needs independently; (b) The time necessary and expense required to acquire sufficient education or training to enable the party seeking alimony to find appropriate employment; (c) The standard of living established during the marriage; (d) The duration of the marriage; (e) The age, physical and emotional condition of both parties; (f) Any financial or other contribution made by either party to the education, training, vocational skills, career or earning capacity of the other party; (g) The ability of the other party to meet his or her needs while paying alimony; (h) Tax consequences; (9) Whether either party has foregone or postponed economic, education or other employment opportunities during the course of the marriage; and (10) Any other factor which the Court expressly finds is just and appropriate to consider. (Delaware Code - Title 13 - Chapters: 1512)

The court shall determine the legal custody and residential arrangements for a child in accordance with the best interests of the child. In determining the best interests of the child, the court shall consider all relevant factors including: (a) The wishes of the child's parent or parents as to his or her custody and residential arrangements; (b) The wishes of the child as to his or her custodian(s) and residential arrangements; (c) The interaction and interrelationship of the child with his or her parents, grandparents, siblings, persons cohabiting in the relationship of husband and wife with a parent of the child, any other residents of the household or persons who may significantly affect the child's best interests; (d) The child's adjustment to his or her home, school and community; (e) The mental and physical health of all individuals involved; (f) Past and present compliance by both parents with their rights and responsibilities to their child (g) Evidence of domestic violence (h) The criminal history of any party or any other resident of the household including whether the criminal history contains pleas of guilty or no contest or a conviction of a criminal offense. The court shall not presume that a parent, because of his or her sex, is better qualified than the other parent to act as a joint or sole legal custodian for a child or as the child's primary residential parent, nor shall it consider conduct of a proposed sole or joint custodian or primary residential parent that does not affect his or her relationship with the child. The child's rights shall be set forth in full in said affidavit as follows: (1) The right to a continuing relationship with both parents. (2) The right to be treated as an important human being, with unique feelings, ideas and desires. (3) The right to continuing care and guidance from both parents. (4) The right to know and appreciate what is good in each parent without one parent degrading the other. (5) The right to express love, affection and respect for each parent without having to stifle that love because of fear of disapproval by the other parent. (6) The right to know that the parents' decision to divorce was not the responsibility of the child. (7) The right not to be a source of argument between the parents. (8) The right to honest answers to questions about the changing family relationships. (9) The right to be able to experience regular and consistent contact with both parents and the right to know the reason for any cancellation of time or change of plans. (10) The right to have a relaxed, secure relationship with both parents without being placed in a position to manipulate one parent against the other. (Delaware Code - Title 13 - Chapters: 722)

The father and mother are the joint natural guardians of their minor child and are equally charged with the child's support, care, nurture, welfare and education. Each has equal powers and duties with respect to such child, and neither has any right, or presumption of right or fitness, superior to the right of the other concerning such child's custody or any other matter affecting the child. The court will examine the following factors when considering a child support award; the financial resource of the child; the standard of living prior to the divorce; the age and health condition of each parent; the earning capacity of the parents; the age and health of the child; and the needs of the child. (Delaware Code - Title 13 - Chapters: 501, 514, 701)

One would typically file for divorce in the state in which he or she or his or her spouse resides. If you have recently moved to a new state and wish to file in that new state, you may have to establish residency prior to filing.

If you are in the military and are stationed on a base outside your residency state, you typically are able to file in that state or in your residency state.

If you are in the military and are stationed overseas, you would typically file in your home residency state.

Yes. The system and your documents will address all the issues regarding your children such as, but not limited to; custody arrangements, visitation and time-sharing, child support, and medical coverage.

The filing and/or court fees are not included in our fee and typically range from $50.00 to $350.00 in total depending on your location of filing and whether or not you have children. The 3StepDivorce service will typically help you yield the lowest filing fee for you because both you and your spouse are in agreement.

The process takes an average of less than 1 hour to answer the required questions and generate the documents. Once you file your documents with the court according the filing procedures, the length of time will vary depending on the number of cases in front of yours. Each court has only one or just a few Judges, Masters, or Referees to review all the pending cases.

As a rule of thumb, for uncontested divorces, the spouse who really wants the divorce to be finalized typically does the filing.

The documents are filed at your local county courthouse in the family law or domestic relations division or department. Inside your account you will receive step-by-step filing procedures.

Many courts do permit you to mail and/or fax the documents. This will vary from county to county and state to state, so it will be best to check with the clerk at the courthouse when you are ready to file.

Depending on your state and your situation, you may or may not have to attend a short hearing. Most of the time when a hearing is required, it only lasts 10-15 minutes and only the filing spouse must attend. The hearing is where you will be granted your divorce and the judge will sign the final judgment or decree.

3StepDivorce is designed for you to do your own uncontested divorce without hiring a lawyer. You will be acting as your own lawyer and filing for your own divorce. Should you need or desire legal advice or should your divorce become contested, we do suggest you hire the services of a lawyer.

The wife has the option to change her name back to her former or maiden name through the 3StepDivorce solution.

The divorce is typically finalized when the Judge signs the final judgment or decree. We give a window of 30-90 days from the filing date, but this will vary due to case load at the courthouse and any mandatory waiting periods.