Statutes: Delaware

(a) After consideration of a petition for a protective order, the Court may grant relief as follows:

(1) Restrain the respondent from committing acts of domestic violence, as defined in § 1041 of this title;

(2) Restrain the respondent from contacting or attempting to contact the petitioner;

(3) Grant exclusive possession of the residence or household to the petitioner or other resident, regardless of in whose name the residence is titled or leased. Such relief shall not affect title to any real property;

(4) Order that the petitioner be given temporary possession of specified personal property solely or jointly owned by respondent or petitioner, including but not limited to, motor vehicles, checkbooks, keys and other personal effects;

(5) Grant temporary custody of the children of the parties to the petitioner or to another family member. Either party may request visitation at any time during the proceeding. The Court may provide for visitation by separate interim visitation order pursuant to Title 13, which order shall be binding upon and enforceable against both parties. Such interim visitation order may include third-party supervision of any visitation, if necessary, in accordance with Chapters 7 and 19 of Title 13;

(6) Order the respondent to pay support for the petitioner and/or for the parties’ children, in accordance with Chapter 5 of Title 13, including temporary housing costs;

(7) Order the respondent to pay to the petitioner or any other family member monetary compensation for losses suffered as a direct result of domestic violence committed by the respondent, including medical, dental and counseling expenses, loss of earnings or other support, cost of repair or replacement of real or personal property damaged or taken, moving or other travel expenses and litigation costs, including attorney’s fees;

(8) Order the respondent to temporarily relinquish to a police officer or a federally-licensed firearms dealer located in Delaware the respondent’s firearms and to refrain from purchasing or receiving additional firearms for the duration of the order. The Court shall inform the respondent that he or she is prohibited from receiving, transporting, or possessing firearms for so long as the protective order is in effect;

(9) Prohibit the respondent from transferring, encumbering, concealing or in any way disposing of specified property owned or leased by parties;

(10) Order the respondent, petitioner and other protected class members, individually and/or as a group, to participate in treatment or counseling programs;

(11) Issue an order directing any law-enforcement agency to forthwith search for and seize firearms of the respondent upon a showing by the petitioner that the respondent has possession of a firearm, and

a. Petitioner can describe, with sufficient particularity, both the type and location of the firearm or firearms; and

b. Respondent has used or threatened to use a firearm against the petitioner, or the petitioner expresses a fear that the respondent may use a firearm against them;

(12) Grant the petitioner the exclusive care, custody, or control of any companion animal owned, possessed, leased, kept, or held by the petitioner, the respondent, or a minor child residing in the residence or household of the petitioner or respondent and order the respondent to stay away from the companion animal and forbid the respondent from taking, transferring, encumbering, concealing, harming, or otherwise disposing of the companion animal. Any subsequent property division order entered by the Court in any proceeding brought under Title 13 supersedes any relevant provisions regarding companion animals which are included in a protection from abuse order, without the need to modify that protective order.

(13) Grant any other reasonable relief necessary or appropriate to prevent or reduce the likelihood of future domestic violence.

(b) Relief granted under this section shall be effective for a fixed period of time not to exceed 1 year, except that relief granted under paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(2) of this section may be entered for a fixed period of time not to exceed 2 years, unless a longer period of time is ordered pursuant to subsection (c) or (f) of this section.

(c) An order issued under this part may be extended, or terms of the order modified, upon motion of either party. Hearings on such motions shall be scheduled within 30 days after proof of service on the respondent is filed. Such motions may be heard on an emergency basis if filed in accordance with § 1043 of this title. Orders may be extended only after the Court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that domestic violence has occurred since the entry of the order, a violation of the order has occurred, if the respondent consents to the extension of the order or for good cause shown.

(d) Only the Court shall modify an order issued under this part and the reconciliation of the parties shall have no effect on the validity of any of the provisions of such an order. The protective order may be modified or rescinded during the term of the order upon motion, after notice to all parties affected and a hearing.

(e) Any subsequent support, custody or visitation order entered by the Court in any proceeding brought pursuant to Title 13 shall supersede any relevant provisions regarding those issues which are included in a protection from abuse order, without the need to modify such protective order.

(f) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, upon a finding that aggravating circumstances exist, the Court may grant no contact relief pursuant to paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(2) of this section for as long as reasonably necessary to prevent further acts of abuse or domestic violence, up to and including the entry of a permanent order of the Court. An order entered pursuant to this subsection may only be modified or amended upon motion of a party for good cause shown. For purposes of this subsection, aggravating circumstances shall mean physical injury or serious physical injury to the petitioner caused by the respondent; the use of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument against the petitioner by the respondent; a history of repeated violations of prior protective orders by the respondent; prior convictions for crimes against the petitioner by the respondent; the exposure of any member of the petitioner’s family or household to physical injury or serious physical injury by the respondent; or any other acts of abuse which the Court believes constitute an immediate and ongoing danger to the petitioner or any member of the petitioner’s family or household.

(g) A protective order requiring a person to relinquish firearms in accordance with paragraph (a)(8) of this section shall:

(1) State on its face that firearms shall be relinquished immediately to a police officer if requested by the police officer upon personal service of the protective order. If no request is made by a police officer, the relinquishment shall occur within 24 hours of personal service of the order at any staffed police station or a federally-licensed firearms dealer located in Delaware, unless the person is incarcerated at the time personal service is received, in which case the 24-hour relinquishment period shall commence at the time of release from incarceration.

(2) State on its face that the respondent is prohibited from purchasing, possessing, or controlling firearms, any other deadly weapons, or ammunition for a firearm under Delaware law.

(3) Require the respondent to file, within 48 hours of personal service or, if the Court will not be open within 48 hours from the time of personal service, within the first 3 hours the Court is thereafter open, 1 of the following documents:

a. A certification, under penalty of prosecution for false written statement under § 1233 of Title 11, that the respondent did not own, possess, or control any firearms at the time of the order and currently does not own, possess, or control any firearms.

b. A copy of a proof of transfer showing, for each firearm owned, possessed, or controlled by the respondent at the time of the order, that the firearm was relinquished to a police officer or a federally-licensed firearms dealer located in Delaware.

c. A certification, under penalty of prosecution for false written statement under § 1233 of Title 11, for each firearm owned, possessed, or controlled by the respondent at the time of the order, that the respondent is unable to obtain access to the firearm, specifying the location of the firearm and the reason why the respondent is unable to obtain access.

(h) The Court shall provide to the petitioner a copy of the documents the respondent files with the Court pursuant to paragraph (g)(3) of this section within 48 hours of filing or, if the Court will not be open within 48 hours of the filing, within the first 3 hours the Court is thereafter open.

(i) A police officer or a federally-licensed firearms dealer located in Delaware taking possession of firearms relinquished by a respondent pursuant to a protective order under subsection (a) of this section shall issue a proof of transfer to the respondent and to the Court issuing the order of protection. The proof of transfer shall list the name of the respondent; date of the transfer; and make, model, and serial number of each firearm relinquished. For purposes of this section, the term “police officer” shall be defined as in § 1911 of Title 11. The law-enforcement agency or the federally-licensed firearms dealer located in Delaware shall dispose of the firearm or return the firearm to the respondent only subsequent to the expiration or termination of the protective order in accordance with § 2311 of Title 11.

(j) The forms for protective orders shall allow the petitioner to describe, under penalty of prosecution for false written statement under § 1233 of Title 11, the number, types, and locations of any firearms presently known by the petitioner to be owned, possessed, or controlled by the respondent.

(k) No records, data, information, or reports containing the name, address, other identifying data of either the respondent, petitioner, or recipient of the relinquished firearms or which contain the make, model, caliber, serial number, or other identifying data of any firearm which are required, authorized, or maintained pursuant to this section, shall be subject to disclosure or release pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, Chapter 100 of Title 29.