Dover Family Court Records Lookup

Dover Family Court Records cover divorce, custody, support, adoption, and juvenile cases that are filed at the Kent County Family Court in Dover. The court sits at 400 Court Street, the same building that serves all of Kent County. To look up Dover Family Court Records, you can stop by the Records Department, call the records line, mail a written request, or use a state online search tool for linked civil matters. This page walks you through where to go, who to call, and how to get copies.

Dover Family Court Records Office

The Kent County Family Court sits right in Dover at 400 Court Street, DE 19901. The building stands at the corner of River Road and Martin Luther King Jr Blvd. Since Dover is the county seat, all Family Court matters for Kent County residents are heard here. The court does not split work across cities. If you live in Milford, Harrington, Smyrna, or any other town in Kent County, your Family Court file still goes to Dover. The main phone is 302-672-1000. The Records Department direct line is 302-672-1045. Regular hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and the court closes on state holidays. Check the Kent County Family Court page before any visit to confirm hours.

The building has secure doors. Visitors pass through a screening area on the way in. The first floor holds a Resource Center that helps self-represented parties find forms and fill out paperwork. Staff at the Resource Center cannot give legal advice, but they can point you to the right form, tell you where to file, and note what the fee will be. Dover's downtown has been through a long revitalization, with a new post office, transit center, and the current Family Court building all built during that push. See the Dover Delaware Business View piece for context on how the courthouse area has changed.

Here is a look at Dover as a regional hub, from the local business magazine.

The piece notes that Dover was set up in 1683, serves as the state capital, and holds the county seat role for Kent County, which is why all the county courts and Family Court Records sit right in town.

How to Request Dover Family Court Records

There are three ways to get Dover Family Court Records: in person, by mail, or by phone to set up an appointment. In-person is the fastest. Bring a photo ID. Go to the Records Department on the first floor of 400 Court Street in Dover. Staff will pull the file and make copies while you wait. If the file is large, you may want to call ahead. Mail requests take longer but work well if you live out of state or cannot make the drive.

For a mail request, write a short letter. Include both parties' full names, the approximate date of the decree or order, your contact info, a check or money order for the fee, and a self-addressed stamped envelope. Address it to the Family Court, Records Department, 400 Court Street, Dover, DE 19901. Staff will pull the file, make copies, and mail them back. Turnaround runs a few days to a few weeks based on volume. A phone call to 302-672-1045 ahead of time can help you confirm the fee and the number of pages in the file.

Ways to get copies:

• In person at the Records Room, first floor, 400 Court Street
• By mail with a written request and fee
• By phone call to 302-672-1045 to set up an appointment
• Through a Delaware-licensed attorney who can request the file on your behalf

For the full record access rules, see the Family Court Records Access page on the state court site. The page lists the three copy types (photocopy, certified copy, and exemplified copy) and the fee schedule.

Kent County Courthouse in Dover

The Kent County Courthouse sits on a 5.3-acre site in downtown Dover. It is bordered by Federal Street, Water Street, and The Green. The courthouse holds the Superior Court, Court of Common Pleas, Justice of the Peace Court 16, Register in Chancery, Prothonotary, Law Library, Jury Services, and Capitol Police. The Attorney General and Public Defender keep satellite offices in the building too. The main entrance for Superior Court is at 414 Federal Street. Superior Court mail goes to 38 The Green, Dover. Its phone is 302-735-1900. See the Kent County Courthouse page for a full list of tenants and a site map.

Family Court is not in this same building. It sits a few blocks away at 400 Court Street. That is a common point of confusion. If you go to the Kent County Courthouse by mistake, staff can give you walking directions to the Family Court. Both sites are in downtown Dover, within a short walk. For a full directory of Kent County courts with addresses and phone numbers, look at the Kent County court directory.

Here is a view of the Kent County Courthouse in Dover.

The page shows who occupies the building, lists hours, and notes that security screening is required, which matters when you are planning time for a Family Court Records visit.

Dover Divorce Records

Divorce files make up a large share of Dover Family Court Records. Kent County Family Court issues certified copies of divorce decrees from 1976 forward. For a divorce granted before 1976 in Kent County, the file is held at the Prothonotary's Office rather than Family Court. Records prior to 1935 are kept at the Delaware Public Archives in Dover. The state Division of Public Health also keeps an index of divorce filings from 1935 to the present at the Office of Vital Statistics at 417 Federal Street in Dover. The Division of Public Health Vital Statistics page spells out what is stored where.

Under Title 13 § 1504, at least one party must have lived in Delaware for six months before a divorce case can be filed. Delaware is a no-fault divorce state. The court finds the marriage irretrievably broken based on separation for at least six months. These rules are set in Title 13 of the Delaware Code, which is free to read online. The statute text helps if you need to know what a Dover divorce file should contain or why a given order was issued.

A typical Dover divorce file holds the petition for divorce, the answer, financial affidavits, any property settlement agreement, custody and support orders, hearing notes, and the final divorce decree. Divorce decrees are held on file at Kent County Family Court on a permanent basis. The Office of Vital Statistics at dhss.delaware.gov cross-references the state divorce index, which can help when you are not sure which county heard the case.

Custody and Support Records in Dover

Kent County Family Court in Dover hears custody, visitation, and support cases under the same roof as divorce. Custody cases apply the best interests of the child standard set out in Title 13 § 722. The court weighs 14 factors. These include the wishes of the parents, the wishes of the child, the bond with each parent, and the child's home and school setting. Custody orders live in the file at 400 Court Street and are kept until the youngest child turns 21.

Child support in Delaware uses the Income Shares Model. The court estimates what a two-parent household would have spent on the child if still intact, then splits the figure between the parents based on income. Support orders can be changed as circumstances shift, and all support files are part of the Family Court Records at the Dover courthouse. For the state code, see Title 13 on Justia. Support enforcement is handled through Family Court too, and records of wage attachments and arrears show up in the case file.

Hearings in Family Court are private. Only people with a direct interest may sit in. This is why Dover Family Court Records for custody and support are not in the state's civil case search portal. To review your own file, you need to go to the Records Department, write in, or ask through your attorney.

Online Search Tools for Dover Records

Delaware runs an online portal called CourtConnect. It covers civil cases from Superior Court, Court of Common Pleas, and Justice of the Peace Court. It does not carry Family Court cases due to privacy rules under Family Court Rule 90.1. Still, CourtConnect is useful if you want to track a civil matter tied to a divorce, like a money judgment filed in Kent County Superior Court. You can search by name, case number, or case type. Hearing dates, docket entries, and case status are free to view.

For a full set of Kent County court links, see the Kent County courts page. It has quick links to each court, online tools, and contact info. The page also notes that the county emphasizes technology with online case management and virtual court hearings for many matters. For broader record research, the Family Court home page hosts filing packets, forms, and FAQs that apply to Dover cases.

Dover has a long paper trail for genealogists too. City directories from the 1940s through the 1960s are posted through the Library of Congress. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps from 1885 through 1919 document Dover street by street. These can help when you are trying to trace an old family case or find where a party lived. The Dover Genealogy Records guide lists birth, death, land, marriage, probate, school, church, and census sources for the area.

Here is the Dover genealogy and records guide.

The guide covers the historical record types that sit beside Family Court files, which is helpful if you are tracing an old Kent County case back into the 1800s or earlier.

Copy Fees at Dover Family Court

Fees at Kent County Family Court in Dover are low. Photocopies run about $1 per page for standard pages. A certified copy of a divorce decree carries a small added fee. An exemplified copy, needed for use in other states or countries, costs more and takes extra time because a judge must sign off. Staff will quote you the fee when you call 302-672-1045 or show up at the Records Room.

Three types of copies are issued:

• Photocopy, used for personal reference or file review
• Certified copy, used for Social Security, remarriage, a name change, or legal filings
• Exemplified copy, used out of state or abroad

Payment can be made by cash, check, or money order. Personal checks go to Family Court. Staff cannot hold a file after hours, so plan to finish your request before 4:30 p.m. If you mail in a request, include a check for the fee and a self-addressed stamped envelope. The Records Department will return the copies with a cover sheet.

Legal Aid and Local Resources in Dover

People who cannot afford a lawyer have a few options in Dover. The Resource Center on the first floor of Family Court at 400 Court Street helps with forms. Delaware Volunteer Legal Services and Legal Services Corporation of Delaware both cover Kent County. Both handle family law issues like divorce, custody, support, and protection from abuse cases. The Office of the Public Defender keeps a satellite office in the Kent County Courthouse for criminal matters, and the Attorney General also maintains a space there.

The Delaware Public Archives, located in Dover, holds court records that predate the state Vital Statistics holdings. Records from before 1935 for divorce, marriage, and other family matters are kept there. The Delaware Office of Vital Statistics at 417 Federal Street in Dover is a short walk from Family Court and keeps the state divorce index from 1935 to the present. For birth records the office goes back to 1940, and death and marriage records go back to 1972.

For general Delaware court info, the Kent County courts page is the best map. It links each court in the county with its address, phone, and online tools. The Family Court Records Access page sums up the rules for getting copies, and it applies across all three counties including Kent.

Nearby Cities and Kent County

Dover is the court hub for all of Kent County. If you live in a smaller Kent County town, your Family Court case still files in Dover. Visit the Kent County Family Court Records page for a full guide to county-wide rules, fees, and contacts. Below are other Kent County cities that have their own guide pages.

View Major Delaware Cities