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Legal Information: Delaware

Custody

Updated: 
March 26, 2024

If I am getting divorced, can I take my kids out of the state?

It depends. Once a petition for divorce or annulment has been filed, a restriction called a “preliminary injunction” is put in place against both parents that prohibits them from taking any children who live in Delaware out of the state without the prior written consent of your spouse or the permission of the court. So if you want to take your child out of the state, even for vacation, you should ask the other parent for written permission or the judge for permission first.1

Note: The preliminary injunction applies to the petitioner as soon as s/he files the petition and against the respondent as soon as s/he is served with a copy of the petition.

1 13 Del.C. § 1509(a)(3)

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