Title: Bennett v. Bennett
Citation: N/A
Docket Number: 73, 2007
State: Delaware
Issuer: Delaware Supreme Court
Date: August 6, 2007

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE 
 
DANIEL J. BENNETT,1 
 
 
Respondent Below- 
Appellant, 
 
v. 
 
BETTY H. BENNETT, 
 
Petitioner Below- 
Appellee. 
§ 
§ 
§  No. 73, 2007 
§ 
§ 
§  Court Below—Family Court 
§  of the State of Delaware, 
§  in and for Sussex County 
§  File No. CS94-3107 
§  Petition No. 03-00932 
§ 
 
 
 
 
 
Submitted: May 30, 2007 
 
 
 
 
  Decided: August 6, 2007 
 
Before STEELE, Chief Justice, JACOBS, and RIDGELY, Justices. 
 
O R D E R 
 
This 6th day of August 2007, upon consideration of the appellant’s 
opening brief and the appellee’s motion to affirm, it appears to the Court 
that: 
(1) 
The appellant, Daniel Bennett (Husband), filed this appeal from 
an order of the Family Court, dated February 5, 2007, evicting him from two 
parcels of marital real estate.  The appellee, Betty Bennett (Wife), has filed a 
motion to affirm the Family Court’s judgment on the ground that it is 
manifest on the face of Husband’s opening brief that the appeal is without 
merit.  We agree and affirm. 
                                                 
1 The Court assigned pseudonyms to the parties by order dated February 20, 2007. 
 
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(2) 
The record reflects that the parties were divorced, after 22 years 
of marriage, on August 6, 2003.  Husband filed for bankruptcy protection in 
August 2004.  In May 2005, the bankruptcy judge entered an order lifting 
the automatic stay as to Wife’s Family Court claims and directed Wife to 
return to the Bankruptcy Court once the Family Court issued its “advisory” 
property division order in order to request the Bankruptcy Court to distribute 
“any property ordered distributed by the Family Court.”  On April 4, 2006, 
the Family Court issued its opinion on the parties’ property claims.  Among 
other things, the Family Court directed that the former marital home and the 
farm property be listed for sale.  Wife moved the Bankruptcy Court for an 
order effectuating the Family Court’s property distribution order. Ultimately, 
on November 21, 2006, the Bankruptcy Court dismissed Husband’s case 
with prejudice. Thereafter, on February 5, 2007, the Family Court entered its 
order evicting Husband from the property that it previously had ordered be 
sold. 
(3) 
In his opening brief on appeal, Husband raises numerous 
complaints regarding the Family Court’s property distribution order entered 
on April 4, 2006, an order from which he never sought a timely appeal. 
Husband also complains that Wife never properly filed a “claim” in the 
Bankruptcy Court. These issues, however, are not properly before the Court 
 
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in this appeal.  The only order to be reviewed in this appeal is the Family 
Court’s order evicting Husband from the marital property.   
(4) 
Pursuant to 13 Del. C. § 1513(f), the Family Court has authority 
to enter any order necessary to effectuate its judgment regarding marital 
property distribution.  Accordingly, we find no error or abuse in the Family 
Court’s order evicting Husband from the marital property. The Family 
Court’s property division order, entered in April 2006, was a final order 
from which Husband never sought an appeal. The Bankruptcy Court’s 
dismissal of Husband’s case in that court gave Wife the right to execute on 
the Family Court’s property division order.  Accordingly, we find it manifest 
that the judgment of the Family Court evicting Husband from the marital 
property should be affirmed.  
 
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the judgment of the 
Family Court is AFFIRMED. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
BY THE COURT: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
/s/Henry duPont Ridgely 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Justice