Rule 104.2.Decrees of divorce and annulment

Final at once. A decree of divorce or annulment is final immediately upon entry, subject to the right of appeal. Delaware has no waiting period built into the decree itself — the marriage ends when the decree is entered, and the parties are free to remarry from that moment, subject to whatever an appeal might do.

The agreement. A decree may incorporate by reference an agreement made in a separate stipulation executed by the parties or their attorneys and approved by the court, and that agreement may cover any matter incident to a marriage, separation or divorce. Couples who settle keep their terms in their own document while the decree gives them the force of an order.

Copies. Duplicate originals or certified copies of a decree in a divorce proceeding are furnished to each party after entry, if a current address is known. A person needs the paper — for a passport, a pension, a remarriage — and the rule puts the burden of sending it on the court.

Contested decrees wait. Where the proceeding was contested, copies are not made available before the 31st day after entry, and only once the Clerk is satisfied, from a letter by the petitioner or their counsel, that no proceedings are pending in this court or on appeal challenging the decree. The Clerk may require further proof, or make an independent inquiry, before releasing it.

The reason is practical rather than formal. A certified decree is the document people rely on to remarry, and handing one out while a challenge is alive invites a second marriage founded on a decree that may not survive.