Subchapter I. General Provisions
TITLE 13
Domestic Relations
CHAPTER 8. UNIFORM PARENTAGE ACT
Subchapter I. General Provisions
§ 8-101. Short Title.
This chapter may be cited as the "Uniform Parentage Act."
74 Del. Laws, c. 136, § 1.;
§ 8-102. Definitions.
In this chapter:
(1) "Acknowledged father" means a man who has established a father-child relationship under subchapter III of this chapter.
(2) "Adjudicated father" means a man who has been adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction to be the father of a child.
(3) "Alleged father" means a man who alleges himself to be, or is alleged to be, the genetic father or a possible genetic father of a child, but whose paternity has not been determined. The term does not include:
(i) A presumed father;
(ii) A man whose parental rights have been terminated or declared not to exist; or
(iii) A male donor.
(4) "Assisted reproduction" means a method of causing pregnancy other than sexual intercourse. The term includes:
(i) Intrauterine insemination;
(ii) Donation of eggs;
(iii) Donation of embryos;
(iv) In-vitro fertilization and transfer of embryos; and
(v) Intracytoplasmic sperm injection.
(5) "Child" means an individual of any age whose parentage may be determined under this chapter.
(6) "Commence" means to file the initial pleading seeking an adjudication of parentage in the Family Court of the State of Delaware.
(7) "Determination of parentage" means the establishment of the parent-child relationship by the signing of a valid acknowledgment of paternity under subchapter III of this chapter or adjudication by the court.
(8) "Donor" means an individual who produces eggs or sperm used for assisted reproduction, whether or not for consideration. The term does not include:
(i) A husband who provides sperm, or a wife who provides eggs, to be used for assisted reproduction by the wife;
(ii) A woman who gives birth to a child by means of assisted reproduction, or
(iii) A parent under subchapter VII of this chapter.
(9) "Ethnic or racial group" means, for purposes of genetic testing, a recognized group that an individual identifies as all or part of the individual's ancestry or that is so identified by other information.
(10) "Genetic testing," means an analysis of genetic markers to exclude or identify a man as the father or a woman as the mother of a child. The term includes an analysis of 1 or a combination of the following:
(i) Deoxyribonucleic acid; and
(ii) Blood-group antigens, red-cell antigens, human-leukocyte antigens, serum enzymes, serum proteins or red-cell enzymes.
(11) "Man" means a male individual of any age.
(12) "Parent" means an individual who has established a parent-child relationship under § 8-201 of this title.
(13) "Parent-child relationship" means the legal relationship between a child and a parent of the child. The term includes the mother-child relationship and the father-child relationship.
(14) "Paternity index" means the likelihood of paternity calculated by computing the ratio between:
(i) The likelihood that the tested man is the father, based on the genetic markers of the tested man, mother, and child, conditioned on the hypothesis that the tested man is the father of the child; and
(ii) The likelihood that the tested man is not the father, based on the genetic markers of the tested man, mother, and child, conditioned on the hypothesis that the tested man is not the father of the child and that the father is of the same ethnic or racial group as the tested man.
(15) "Presumed father" means a man who, by operation of law under § 8-204 of this title, is recognized as the father of a child until that status is rebutted or confirmed in a judicial proceeding.
(16) "Probability of paternity" means the measure, for the ethnic or racial group to which the alleged father belongs, of the probability that the man in question is the father of the child, compared with a random, unrelated man of the same ethnic or racial group, expressed as a percentage incorporating the paternity index and a prior probability.
(17) "Record" means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.
(18) "Signatory" means an individual who authenticates a record and is bound by its terms.
(19) "State" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
(20) "Support-enforcement agency" means a public official or agency authorized to seek:
(i) Enforcement of support orders or laws relating to the duty of support;
(ii) Establishment or modification of child support;
(iii) Determination of parentage; or
(iv) Location of child-support obligors and their income and assets.
74 Del. Laws, c. 136, § 1; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1.;
§ 8-103. Scope of chapter; choice of law.
(a) This chapter applies to determinations of parentage in this State.
(b) The court shall apply the law of this State to adjudicate the parent-child relationship. The applicable law does not depend on:
(1) The place of birth of the child; or
(2) The past or present residence of the child.
(c) This chapter does not create, enlarge, or diminish parental rights or duties under other law of this State.
(d) This chapter does not authorize or prohibit an agreement between a woman and a man and another woman in which the woman relinquishes all rights as a parent of a child conceived by means of assisted reproduction, and which provides that the man and other woman become the parents of the child. If a birth results under such an agreement and the agreement is unenforceable under the law of this State, the parent-child relationship is determined as provided in subchapter II of this title.
74 Del. Laws, c. 136, § 1; 70 Del. Laws c. 186, § 1.;
§ 8-104. Court of this State.
The Family Court of the State of Delaware is authorized to adjudicate parentage under this chapter.
74 Del. Laws, c. 136, § 1.;
§ 8-105. Protection of participants.
(a) Notwithstanding any other law concerning public hearings and records, any hearing or trial under this chapter shall be held in closed court without admittance of any person other than those necessary to the action or proceeding, unless the court otherwise directs for good cause.
(b) Except as provided in § 8-633 of this title, all papers and records, other than the final judgment, pertaining to the action or proceeding, whether part of the permanent record of the court or of a file in the appropriate public agency or elsewhere, are subject to inspection by persons other than the parties only upon consent of the court, for good cause.
74 Del. Laws, c. 136, § 1.;
§ 8-106. Determination of maternity.
Provisions of this chapter relating to determination of paternity apply to determinations of maternity.
74 Del. Laws, c. 136, § 1; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1.;