{"data":{"id":"us-de/13-del.-c.-903","jurisdiction":"us-de","citation":"13 Del. C. § 903","heading":"Persons eligible to petition to adopt.","body":"To be eligible to petition the Family Court for an order authorizing the petitioner or petitioners to adopt a child not such petitioner’s or petitioners’, the petitioner or petitioners must satisfy the three following requirements:\n(1) Either be:\na. A resident of Delaware at the time of filing the petition; or\nb. A person with whom a child has been placed for adoption under § 904 of this title; and\n(2) Either be:\na. An unmarried person petitioning individually;\nb. A divorced or legally separated person petitioning individually;\nc. A married couple petitioning jointly, provided they are not legally separated or living apart from each other; or\nd. A nonmarried couple petitioning jointly, provided that they are cohabiting, as that term is defined in § 1512(g) of this title; and\n(3) Be over the age of 21 at the time of filing the petition\nNothing herein shall affect the right of any person to adopt a person who has reached age 18 as provided in subchapter II of this chapter.","path":["Title 13. Domestic Relations","CHAPTER 9. Adoption","Subchapter I. Minors"],"source_url":"https://delcode.delaware.gov/title13/c009/sc01/index.html#903","current_through":"2026-08-10 (85 Del. Laws, c. 421, 424)","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T23:02:17Z","sha256":"25005c2cb7c79c9cbaca2409980ddf73e8f11d12f491b387e83da85576eefb43","source_id":"us-de","stale":true,"prev":"us-de/13-del.-c.-902","next":"us-de/13-del.-c.-904"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}