Delaware Code Title 13 Sec. 129 – Equal treatment of marital relationships
(a) All laws of this State applicable to marriage or married spouses or the children of married spouses, whether derived from statutes, administrative rules or regulations, court rules, governmental policies, common law, court decisions, or any other provisions or sources of law, including in equity, shall apply equally to same-gender and different-gender married couples and their children.
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 13 Sec. 129
- Child: means a person who has not reached the age of 18 years. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
- Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- State: means the State of Delaware; and when applied to different parts of the United States, it includes the District of Columbia and the several territories and possessions of the United States. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
- United States: includes its territories and possessions and the District of Columbia. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
(b) Parties to a marriage shall be included in any definition or use of terms such as “dependent,” “family,” “husband,” “wife,” “widow,” “widower,” “immediate family,” “next of kin,” “spouse,” “stepparent,” “tenants by the entirety” and other terms, whether or not gender specific, that denote a spousal or familial relationship, or a person in a spousal or familial relationship, as those terms are used throughout the Code, administrative rules or regulations, court rules, governmental policies, common law, court decisions, or any other provisions or sources of the laws of this State, including in equity, regardless of whether the parties to a marriage are the same gender or different genders.
(c) To the extent that provisions of the laws of this State, whether derived from statutes, administrative rules or regulations, court rules, governmental policies, common law, court decisions, or any other provisions or sources of law, including in equity, adopt, refer to, or rely upon in any manner, provisions of United States federal law that would have the effect of treating differently same-gender married spouses or their children as compared to different-gender married spouses or their children, same-gender married spouses and their children shall be treated in all respects by the laws of this State as if United States federal law recognizes a marriage between persons of the same gender in the same manner as the laws of this State.
(d) The rights of same-gender married spouses, with respect to a child of whom either spouse becomes the parent during their marriage, shall be the same as the rights (including presumptions of parentage, paternity and maternity in Chapter 8 of this title) of different-gender married spouses with respect to a child of whom either spouse becomes the parent during their marriage.
(e) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in, and in addition to any other rights afforded under, Chapter 31 of Title 16, if a married person is the legal parent of a child at the birth of the child, including pursuant to subsection (d) of this section, such person shall be entitled to have his or her name entered on the original certificate of birth as a parent of the child.
(f) All persons who enter into same-gender marriages that are solemnized in this State or are created by conversion from a civil union under the laws of this State consent to the nonexclusive jurisdiction of the Family Court of this State for all proceedings for divorce and annulment of such marriage, even if 1 or both parties no longer reside in this State, as set forth in § 1504 of this title.