Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: Delaware runs a reciprocal civil duty, spouse, then parents, then children, each liable in that order if able, with criminal enforcement repealed in 1996 and only a general just cause defense written into the statute.
What Delaware actually sets out
| What the statute sets out | What it says |
|---|---|
| 13 Del. C. Sec. 503 | “Except as expressly provided in §§ 501 and 502 of this title, the duty to support a poor person unable to support the poor person’s own self rests upon the spouse, parents, or children, in that order… If the relation prior in order shall not be able, the next in order shall be liable, and several relations of the same order shall, if able, contribute according to their means.” |
| Civil only, Family Court jurisdiction | Family Court has exclusive original jurisdiction over all actions arising under this chapter. A petitioner files, the court can order periodic or lump-sum payment, and a one-month default can trigger wage attachment. The chapter’s criminal enforcement subchapter was repealed by 70 Del. Laws, c. 448, Sec. 2, effective July 5, 1996. |
| Just cause defense, 13 Del. C. Sec. 506 | “No person shall be required to support another while there is just cause for failing or refusing to do so.” |
| Cap or time limit | No dollar cap or statute of limitations appears in the sections governing the duty or the amount a court may order. |
| Case law | Dalton v. Clanton, 559 A.2d 1197 (Del. 1989), reportedly applied Sec. 503’s poor person standard to an adult son and found him not a poor person; the opinion text itself could not be independently read this session (every full-text source tried was blocked), so treat this citation as reported, not independently verified. |
How it works in practice
- The duty runs in both directions and through three tiers: a needy person’s spouse is primarily liable, then parents, then children, and within a tier several relatives split the load according to their means.
- Ability to pay is built into the liability rule itself, a relative with no ability has no liability under the statute’s own words, not through a separate defense.
- Delaware passed HB 357 in mid-2026 to rename poor person and extend coverage to disabled adult children; as read directly from the state’s own code on the day this page was built, the operative text still said poor person, so this page reflects the law as currently codified and should be rechecked periodically.
What a filial responsibility statute is, why most of them sit unused, and which state is the one with documented recent enforcement is explained on the filial responsibility laws by state page. How this fits alongside the other two mechanisms that can turn a parent’s medical debt into a living person’s debt is explained on who actually owes medical bills after a death, and what a nursing home may and may not ask a family member to sign at admission is on the admission agreement traps page. This page is the record for Delaware.
What this page does not settle
- Two cases came up in research, Dalton v. Clanton and H. v. V. (cited in HB 357’s own legislative synopsis), and neither opinion’s full text could be independently read this session; both are reported here as leads, not as confirmed holdings, and should not be relied on for their exact reasoning without a direct read of the opinions.
- This page reads the state’s own current code and 1 other primary source. A state can amend or repeal this section without the page around it changing, and a detail specific to your situation, such as a pending Medicaid application or a prior period of estrangement, can change which part of the statute applies.
- A statute existing is not the same question as whether it has ever been used. Enforcement history, where it exists at all, is noted on this page; where none was found, that is stated plainly rather than left blank.
- Every quotation here was read against the source on September 4, 2026. Nothing on this page is legal advice, and the statute’s own defenses and procedural requirements matter as much as its liability language.
Whether this statute actually reaches a given family’s situation is decided by a court on the specific facts, not by this page. Nothing here is legal advice, and no one should sign anything or send money on the strength of a web page.
Sources
- 13 Del. C. Chapter 5, Subchapter I, Sec. 503 and 506 (Delaware Code Online)
- 13 Del. C. Chapter 5, Subchapter III (repealed criminal provisions)
The sources above were retrieved and read against the state text on September 4, 2026. Every quotation on this page was checked against those bytes.