Posted by DivorceLine in Delaware Child Custody Laws
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.
[Based on Delaware Code - Title 13 - Chapter 722]
Child Support:
Child support shall continue until the age of 18 or until the child graduates from high school. This duty ends when the child receives a high school diploma or attains age 19, whichever event first occurs. In determining the amount of support due to one to whom the duty of support has been found to be owing, the Court, among other things, shall consider:
a) The health, relative economic condition, financial circumstance, income, including the wages, and earning capacity of the parties, including the children.
b) The manner of living to which the parties have been accustomed when they were living under the same roof.
c) The general equities inherent in the situation. (59 Del. Laws, c. 567, § 1.)
