Opinion ID: 2551424
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Was Completion Of The PEP A Condition Precedent To Entry Of The Divorce Decree?

Text: The Family Court also concluded that even if Husband was required to attend a PEP that included a domestic violence education course component, Husband had cured that procedural defect by completing that program in August 2009, after the divorce decree had been entered. Wife claims that that alternative ruling was also erroneous. She argues that because 13 Del. C. § 1507(h) mandates that a litigant who has a demonstrable history of domestic violence shall be ordered to participate in a [PEP that has a domestic violence education course component], [19] the Family Court could not waive the PEP requirement before entering the divorce decree. In essence, Wife argues, the completion of a PEP is a condition precedent to the entry of a divorce decree. This claim also cannot succeed. As explained above, Husband was not obligated to attend a PEP that had a domestic violence education course component. Therefore, his completion of the April 2009 PEP course, which occurred before the contested Divorce Hearing was scheduled, satisfied the requirements of Section 1507(h). But even if Husband was required to attend a PEP with a domestic violence education course component, the Family Court did not err by proceeding with the June 27, 2009 contested divorce hearing and entering the final divorce decree before Husband completed that PEP. As explained below, the Delaware Code does not require a party to complete the applicable PEP before the Family Court may enter a final divorce decree. Nor do the Rules and procedures of the Family Court make completing a PEP a substantive limitation to that court's power to enter a final divorce decree.
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.
Nor do the Family Court Rules and procedures make the completion of a PEP a substantive bar to scheduling a divorce hearing and entering a divorce decree, for two reasons. First, Family Court Rule of Civil Procedure 104.1(d) provides that an uncontested divorce is deemed trial ready once any applicable period of separation has passed, the Respondent has been served, and the applicable Parent Education requirements have been satisfied. . . . [25] There is no PEP completion requirement, however, for a contested divorce, which this case was. Rule 104.1(a) provides only that a contested divorce . . . shall be heard by the Court at a time convenient for the Court and the parties. [26] Second, the Family Court's procedures treat the completion of a PEP as a procedural, not a substantive, requirement. Although both parties must complete the requisite PEP under Section 1507(h), the Family Court does not require that both parties file their Certificates of Completion before proceeding with the divorce. In practice, the Family Court requires only that the party who filed the initial divorce petition comply with the PEP requirement before the court will schedule a hearing and issue a divorce decree. [27] S H v. J H illustrates the Family Court practice. [28] In that case, the Family Court had already entered the final divorce decree and issued its decision on ancillary property division matters. [29] The Family Court then scheduled a custody hearing on the petitioner's claim for custody of the minor children. [30] On the first day of the custody trial, the respondent sought leave to supplement the record to allow him to take the [requisite] parent education course. . . . [31] Thus, at the time the Family Court had entered the divorce decree, the respondent had not yet completed the required PEP. Even so, the Family Court proceeded to enter the divorce decree, and permitted the respondent to supplement the record after entry of that decree. The Family Court's approach to scheduling custody hearings evidences a similar practice. Family Court Rule of Civil Procedure 16.2, which applies to custody and visitation proceedings, provides that [t]he petitioner shall submit an original copy of the certificate of completion for the petitioner prior to the scheduling of a final custody or visitation proceeding before a judge or commissioner. [32] Although Rule 16.2 states that a custody or visitation hearing will not be scheduled until the requisite PEP completion certificate is filed, several decisions illustrate the Family Court's willingness to allow parties to comply with the Rule after the hearing is scheduled. [33] Thus, under the Family Court Rules and procedures, the PEP completion is a procedural requirement, but not a substantive bar, to the scheduling of a divorce hearing and entry of a divorce decree.