We provide unlimited support for all of our customers through our Delaware Online Divorce Help Center. We take great pride in being able to respond to our customers in a "human" to "human" approach (as you can see, we do not hide our toll free number (888) 665-6782). We understand the need a customer may have to talk to a person rather than the typical automated voice or e-mail support system. Please keep in mind that we are not lawyers and we do not give out legal advice. If you need legal advice regarding your uncontested divorce in Delaware, we recommend that you contact a lawyer in your area.

In almost all cases, you file for a divorce in the state where you reside. This means that if you are a resident of Delaware, you file in Delaware and are governed by Delaware's divorce laws even if you were married, for example, in California.

You must meet Delaware's residency requirement for a Delaware family court to have jurisdiction over your divorce.

Delaware 3StepDivorce™ works as long as both you and your spouse agree about everything, and both of you are willing to sign the divorce paperwork.

You do not have to sign the papers together, at the same time and place, but the Delaware 3StepDivorce™ requires both spouses to sign.

It sure does. The Delaware 3StepDivorce™ allows you to address all issues regarding children, including but not limited to, physical and legal custody, visitation and support, care, health insurance and tax deductions.

Thousands of people divorce in Delaware every year without hiring a lawyer.

When spouses cannot agree about the terms and conditions of their divorce, they sometimes end up in court where a judge makes decisions for them. This is called a contested divorce, and hiring a lawyer is a good idea in this case.

When a divorce case is uncontested in Delaware and both parties are willing to sign, (when you and you spouse agree about everything) filing your own divorce is a common choice in order to cut down legal expenses.

The residency requirements for a divorce in Delaware are as follows:

One spouse must be a resident of the state for six months prior to the commencement of the action. This applies to members of the armed services stationed in the state.

Yes. The divorce paperwork requires a signed authentication that you have been a resident of Delaware for at least the past six months.

This is a state law.

Signing false statements is perjury.

If the court requires proof for some reason, typically a Delaware driver's license or state identification is sufficient. An affidavit of a corroborating witness testifying about your residency also works.

Your spouse does not need to live in Delaware to use 3StepDivorce™. After you have printed all the divorce paperwork, you simply mail the documents to your spouse and he or she signs them. After your spouse returns them, you file in your local county court.

Very often divorcing spouses live in different states.

The grounds for divorce in Delaware are as follows:

No Fault: Irretrievable breakdown of the marriage characterized by 1) voluntary separation or 2) separation cause by a) the respondent's misconduct, b) mental illness, or c) separation caused by incompatibility; 2) living apart for six months because of incompatibility.

Once the divorce paperwork has been filed in court, it usually takes 30 to 90 days for a divorce to be final. The start to finish time of the divorce may vary depending on the caseload of the court and the availability of judges to sign the final Decree of Divorce.

3StepDivorce™ saves time because all lengthy delivery times are eliminated when you print your documents from your computer. You control revisions and reprintings as necessary.

In Delaware, a divorce hearing is not typically required unless you and your spouse have children. If there are children involved, a short hearing, generally about 15 minutes, gives the court an opportunity to make certain that you understand the parameters of custody, visitation and support that are ordered as part of your divorce.

If there are no children, the process in very streamlined. Since you and your spouse are in agreement, there is nothing for the court to decide. Learn more about divorce hearings in Delaware

There is no mandatory waiting period in Delaware.

Yes. 3StepDivorce™ includes a protocol for the wife to take back her former or birth name as part of the filing. It is easier to effect a name change during the divorce rather than after the divorce is finalized. Read more about a name change during a divorce in Delaware.

Separate and marital property and debt is identified and addressed in your 3StepDivorce™ account. A series of questions itemizes property and debt, dividing and allocating both according to what you and your spouse have agreed to. The answers become part of the divorce documents, so it is clear to you, your spouse and the court how assets and liabilities have been divided.

Yes. You answer a few questions dealing with individual retirement accounts. You have the option of waiving rights to each other's account(s), or dividing any marital portion of an account by a specific percentage or a dollar amount.

Once again, a few questions inside your account deal with the disposition of the marital home. All possible scenarios are covered -- sale, planned sale, transfer from one spouse to the other, and co-ownership.

A few questions in your account deal with temporary or permanent spousal support. Rights to spousal support may be waived, or a couple can agree to a specific amount for a set period of time. These questions define and limit the parameters of the desired spousal support, which often terminates upon remarriage or cohabitation.

Delaware requires that a support order be put in place for all minor children.

3StepDivorce™ provides the Delaware Child Support Guideline Worksheet, so you can easily calculate the state's recommendation for monthly support, but you have the option of taking these recommendations under advisement. The courts realize that you and your spouse know your situation better than they do, so they may approve any reasonable support amount, even if it is different from the one on the state worksheet.

We provide Delaware Child Support Worksheets inside your account. These worksheets make it very easy to calculate a monthly support amount. The support calculation is based on a number of variables, but the primary one is income.

Once you have calculated the amount, you and your spouse decide if you want to deviate from it and the reasons for doing so.

Yes. Once you and your spouse agree to a monthly child support amount, a judge reviews your decision. He or she will accept it if it seems reasonable. However, if it seems too high or too low, the judge will want an explanation why the two of you came to amount so much at variance from the state guidelines. Your explanation and reasons for it determine whether or not the judge accepts your proposed child support amount.

In Delaware the courts use the Percent of Income Formula, but also examines the following factors when considering a child support award: the financial resources of the child, the standard of living prior to the divorce, the age and health of each parent, the earning capacity of the parents, the age and health of the child, and the needs of the child.

Yes. Child support can be modified based on a change in circumstances. In Delaware, a change in circumstances means "a significant change in circumstances," generally, changes "not considered when the original judgment was entered" that are "permanent and substantial" and/or "affect one's current standard of living."

Yes. Child custody arrangements can be modified when, for example, they break down because of the conduct of one of the former spouses.

Yes. The terms and conditions of both sole and joint/shared custody are defined by you and your spouse.

Yes. You can either use a standard schedule that we provide in your account, or you can use our option to customize your own.

Yes. Some of the divorce papers need to be notarized. The step-by-step filing instructions explain who signs what and whether a particular document needs to be notarized. The documents requiring notarization contain notary clauses below individual signature lines.

No. If desired, each of you may sign and/or notarize a document at a different time and/or place.

As mentioned, very frequently spouses sign and notarize the documents at different times and places because they live apart in different states. This happens often, for example, when one of them has moved or is in the military.

In Delaware, the divorce papers are filed in the Family Court for the State of Delaware, in and for _______________ County, which is the local county courthouse, where the Domestic Relations or Family Law department accepts the divorce filing. The divorce documents are submitted to the Clerk of the Courts. You pay a filing fee, and the clerk assigns the case a case number.

In Delaware, the fees vary by county. The fees are about $150. If you want to know the exact amount, you can call the courthouse and ask.

Filing fees underwrite the cost of the court system, but in the case of indigent petitioners these fees may be waived.

Normally, an indigent petitioner completes a very short form at the time of filing. This form asks the court to waive the fees because of financial hardship.

Yes. If you have signed up but not filed any divorce papers, then nothing must be done. If you have initiated the action by filing the Petition for Divorce, your case can be dismissed by petitioning the court to do so. Normally, this can only be done by the filing spouse and must be done in writing.

Often the clerk of the court can help a person remove a case from the court docket.

The Delaware 3StepDivorce™ includes the following documents:

- Delaware Filing Instructions
- Family Court Information Sheet
- Petition for Divorce
- Marital Settlement Agreement
- Schedule fore Visitation/Parenting time of Minor Children
- Request for Notice
- Affidavit of Appearance and Waiver of Rights
- Affidavit of Children's Rights
- Custody Separate Statement
- Financial Report
- Child Support Calculation
- Instructions for Child Support Calculation
- Non-Military Affidavit (if appropriate)
- Stipulation to Incorporate Settlement Agreement
- Decree of Divorce

Read more about the Delaware Divorce Papers