Sections
Subchapter I General Provisions 8-101 – 8-106
Subchapter II Parent-Child Relationship 8-201 – 8-204
Subchapter III Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity 8-301 – 8-314
Subchapter IV Registry of Paternity 8-401 – 8-423
Subchapter V Genetic Testing 8-501 – 8-510
Subchapter VI Proceeding to Adjudicate Parentage 8-601 – 8-639
Subchapter VII Child of Assisted Reproduction 8-701 – 8-707
Subchapter VIII Gestational Carrier Agreement Act 8-801 – 8-813
Subchapter IX Miscellaneous Provisions 8-901 – 8-904

Terms Used In Delaware Code > Title 13 > Chapter 8 - Uniform Parentage Act

  • Allegation: something that someone says happened.
  • Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Ballot: means those portions of cardboard, paper or other material to be placed within the ballot frames of a voting machine or to be used for absentee voting in order to list the names of the offices to be voted for, the name of each candidate and the designation of the party by which the candidate is nominated, a space for the voter to write in the name of any candidate of that voter's choice for any office, and the statement of any question submitted with provision for a "yes" or "no" vote. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
  • Board: means that body of individuals appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate to serve or who otherwise serve as the State Board of Elections in accordance with Chapter 2 of this title, and are, as such, vested with the responsibility and power to see to the administration of the election laws of this State as more particularly defined in this title. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
  • Caucus: From the Algonquian Indian language, a caucus meant "to meet together." An informal organization of members of the legislature that exists to discuss issues of mutual concern and possibly to perform legislative research and policy planning for its members. There are regional, political or ideological, ethnic, and economic-based caucuses.
  • Child: means a person who has not reached the age of 18 years. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
  • Clerk: means clerk of election. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
  • Committee membership: Legislators are assigned to specific committees by their party. Seniority, regional balance, and political philosophy are the most prominent factors in the committee assignment process.
  • 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.
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • County committee: means the regularly organized and constituted county committee or governing authority of a political party. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
  • Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
  • Department: means the State Department of Elections, consisting of the State Board of Elections and such staff as the Board shall appoint under this title, but shall not include the State Election Commissioner. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
  • Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
  • Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
  • Director: means the Director of the Division of Public Health, or such persons as may be designated by the Director. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 101
  • Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
  • Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. Source:
  • District: means a reorganized school district, or the school district of the City of Wilmington. See Delaware Code Title 14 Sec. 1301
  • District: means a reorganized school district. See Delaware Code Title 14 Sec. 2001
  • District: means a reorganized school district. See Delaware Code Title 14 Sec. 2101
  • Division: is a s defined in § 902 of this title. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 902B
  • Division: means the Division of Public Health. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 101
  • dollars: means lawful money of the United States. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
  • Donor: The person who makes a gift.
  • Election officers: means the inspector of election, the 2 judges of election and the clerks of election who are appointed for each election district under § 4702 of this title. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
  • Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
  • Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
  • Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
  • Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Freedom of Information Act: A federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public inspection and copying. The only exceptions are those records that fall into one of nine exempted categories listed in the statute. Source: OCC
  • Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
  • Health-care provider: is a s defined in § 714 of this title. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 902B
  • hospital: means a health-care organization that has a governing body, an organized medical and professional staff, and inpatient facilities, and provides either medical diagnosis, treatment and care, nursing and related services for ill and injured patients, or rehabilitation services for the rehabilitation of ill, injured or disabled patients 24 hours per day, 7 days per week and primarily engaged in providing inpatient services. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 1001
  • Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
  • Infant: means a person who has not reached the age of 18 years. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
  • Infant with prenatal substance exposure: means a child not more than 1 year of age who is born with and identified as being affected by substance abuse or withdrawal symptoms or a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 902B
  • Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
  • Inspector: means inspector of elections. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
  • Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. Source: OCC
  • Internal information system: is a s defined in § 902 of this title. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 902B
  • Investigation Coordinator: is a s defined in § 902 of this title. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 902B
  • Judge: means judge of elections. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
  • Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
  • Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
  • Maternal depression: means a wide range of emotional and psychological reactions that a woman may experience during pregnancy or after childbirth, as the range of reactions is defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 802D
  • Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
  • National Bank: A bank that is subject to the supervision of the Comptroller of the Currency. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department. A national bank can be recognized because it must have "national" or "national association" in its name. Source: OCC
  • Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • Plan: means a written or electronic plan to ensure the safety and well-being of an infant with prenatal substance exposure following the release from the care of a health-care provider by addressing the health and substance use treatment needs of the infant and affected family or caregiver, and monitoring these plans to ensure appropriate referrals are made and services are delivered to the infant and affected family or caregiver. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 902B
  • political party: means any political organization which elects a state committee and officers of a state committee, by a state convention composed of delegates elected from each representative district in which the party has registered members, and which nominates candidates for electors of President and Vice-President, or nominates candidates for offices to be decided at the general election. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
  • Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
  • President pro tempore: A constitutionally recognized officer of the Senate who presides over the chamber in the absence of the Vice President. The President Pro Tempore (or, "president for a time") is elected by the Senate and is, by custom, the Senator of the majority party with the longest record of continuous service.
  • Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
  • Primary election: means an election at which voters registered as members of a major political party may vote to determine the nominees of that political party for the general election. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
  • Probate: Proving a will
  • Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
  • real property: is synonymous with the phrase "lands, tenements and hereditaments. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
  • Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
  • Registration record: means a voter's registration record maintained in the State's Election Management System, the list or file of registered voters sent to each election district for use by election officers on the day of the election, and until determined obsolete, it also applies to a voter's record maintained in the county master file. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
  • Rescission: The cancellation of budget authority previously provided by Congress. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 specifies that the President may propose to Congress that funds be rescinded. If both Houses have not approved a rescission proposal (by passing legislation) within 45 days of continuous session, any funds being withheld must be made available for obligation.
  • School board: means a board of education of a reorganized school district. See Delaware Code Title 14 Sec. 2001
  • School board: means a board of education of a reorganized school district. See Delaware Code Title 14 Sec. 2101
  • Secretary: means the Secretary of the Department of Health and Social Services or such persons as may be designated by the Secretary. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 101
  • Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
  • Signature: means both a written signature conforming to § 302(23) of Title 1 and a digital or electronic signature that is an electronic sound, symbol or process attached to or logically associated with a document and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the document as specified by the State Election Commissioner. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
  • State Board: consists of 9 members who are citizens of this State andappointed as follows:

    (1) The Governor shall appoint, with Senate confirmation, 7 voting members. See Delaware Code Title 14 Sec. 104

  • State chair: means the highest executive officer of a political party of this State. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
  • State committee: means the regularly organized and constituted statewide governing authority of a political party in this State. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
  • Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
  • Substance abuse: means the chronic, habitual, regular, or recurrent use of alcohol, inhalants, or controlled substances as identified in Chapter 47 of this title. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 902B
  • Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
  • Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
  • unit of pupils: means as defined in the following schedule of numbers of pupils enrolled in schools beginning in kindergarten and through grade 12; and for children prior to entry into kindergarten who are eligible for special education services as defined in Chapter 31 of this title:

    (1) Preschool — 12. See Delaware Code Title 14 Sec. 1703

  • Withdrawal symptoms: means a group of behavioral and physiological features in the infant that follow the abrupt discontinuation of a drug that has the capability of producing physical dependence. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 902B