Opinion ID: 2551424
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Delaware Code

Text: There is no statutory requirement that Husband complete a PEP with a domestic violence education course component and file a Certification of Completion of that PEP before the Family Court may enter a final divorce decree. 13 Del. C. § 1517(c) sets forth six conditions precedent to the Family Court's entry of a divorce decree. They are: (1) The averments of the [divorce] petition satisfy § 1504(a), § 1505 or § 1506, and § 1507 of [title 13]; (2) Jurisdiction has been acquired over respondent under § 1508 of [title 13]; (3) In uncontested cases, whether the time for respondent to file a responsive pleading has expired; (4) The parties to a divorce proceeding have continued to be separated since the commencement of this action, except as § 1505(e) of [title 13] may apply; (5) A certified copy of the parties' marriage record has been filed; and (6) The affidavit of nonmilitary service, wherever required by federal statute, has been filed. [20] Out of those six conditions, only one is applicable to this case-subsection (1): whether Husband's averments satisfied 13 Del. C. § 1507. Section 1507 has eight subsections, enumerated (a) through (h). [21] Subsection (a) instructs how a petition for divorce or annulment should be captioned. Subsection (b) states that [t]he petition shall be verified by petitioner and shall set forth details regarding the age, occupation, and residence of each party, the date of the marriage, the date which the parties separated, an allegation that the marriage is irretrievably broken, any other relevant facts, and the relief sought. Subsections (c) through (e) instruct the petitioner on where and how to file the petition with the Family Court, and subsection (f) further explains the type of relief the petitioner may seek. Subsection (g) requires that the petitioner submit an affidavit showing that the petitioner has read or been advised of his or her child's rights to parental contact. Finally, subsection (h) provides that the Family Court must order the parties to complete a PEP where the parties have children under the age of 17. Subsection (h) does not require that Husband aver in his divorce petition that he has satisfied the applicable PEP requirement. [22] All subsection (h) does require is that the Family Court shall order the parties to complete a PEP, but it does not specify when the PEP must be completed. [23] Importantly, subsection (h) also provides that the Family Court may waive the PEP requirement where participation in the course is deemed not necessary. [24] Thus, to satisfy the averment requirement of 13 Del. C. § 1517(c), as it applies to Section 1507, Husband need only: (i) properly caption his divorce petition according to Section 1507(a); (ii) aver the facts required by Section 1507(b); (iii) properly file his divorce petition in accordance with Sections 1507(c) through (e); and (iv) include in his divorce petition the affidavit required by Section 1507(g). Because Section 1517(c) sets forth the conditions that must be satisfied before entry of a divorce decree, and because Section 1507(h) is not one of those conditions, the PEP requirement is not a condition precedent to the entry of a divorce decree.