Delaware high court reverses ruling granting shared custody to lesbian ex-partner

A lower court judge was wrong to grant a lesbian joint custody of her former partner’s adopted daughter, the Delaware Supreme Court has ruled.

In a unanimous decision handed down this week, the justices said the woman had no standing to petition for custody in Family Court because she was not the child’s legal parent. The court affirmed that under Delaware law, a person who is considered a “de facto” parent of a child does not have the same rights as a legal parent and is not entitled to custody.

Citing existing law, Justice Randy Holland wrote that a person who does not qualify as a legal parent has no standing to petition for custody of a child unless the child is dependent or neglected and a judge determines that he or she should not be placed in the custody of the legal parent.

 See Delaware high court reverses ruling granting shared custody to lesbian ex-partner
The Capital (Annapolis, Md.)