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SB37 • 2025

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 13 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO FREE LEGAL COUNSEL FOR RELATIVES OF CERTAIN CHILDREN IN ADOPTION PROCEEDINGS.

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 13 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO FREE LEGAL COUNSEL FOR RELATIVES OF CERTAIN CHILDREN IN ADOPTION PROCEEDINGS.

Children
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Last action
2025-04-08
Official status
Stricken in Senate
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 13 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO FREE LEGAL COUNSEL FOR RELATIVES OF CERTAIN CHILDREN IN ADOPTION PROCEEDINGS.

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 13 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO FREE LEGAL COUNSEL FOR RELATIVES OF CERTAIN CHILDREN IN ADOPTION PROCEEDINGS.

What This Bill Does

  • AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 13 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO FREE LEGAL COUNSEL FOR RELATIVES OF CERTAIN CHILDREN IN ADOPTION PROCEEDINGS.
  • This Act creates a right to free legal counsel for a relative seeking to adopt a child in the relative’s family after parental rights over the child have been terminated and the child is in the custody of the Delaware Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families.
  • Relatives of a child for whom adoption is being sought who are eligible for free legal counsel in adoption proceedings include siblings, grandparents, uncles, aunts, first cousins, first cousins once removed, great-grandparents, grandaunts or granduncles, half-siblings, stepparents, stepsiblings, stepaunts or stepuncles, or stepgrandparents.
  • This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2025-04-08 Delaware General Assembly

    Stricken in Senate

  2. 2025-01-10 Delaware General Assembly

    Introduced and Assigned to Judiciary Committee in Senate

Official Summary Text

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 13 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO FREE LEGAL COUNSEL FOR RELATIVES OF CERTAIN CHILDREN IN ADOPTION PROCEEDINGS.
This Act creates a right to free legal counsel for a relative seeking to adopt a child in the relative’s family after parental rights over the child have been terminated and the child is in the custody of the Delaware Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families. Relatives of a child for whom adoption is being sought who are eligible for free legal counsel in adoption proceedings include siblings, grandparents, uncles, aunts, first cousins, first cousins once removed, great-grandparents, grandaunts or granduncles, half-siblings, stepparents, stepsiblings, stepaunts or stepuncles, or stepgrandparents.

This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.