Rule 58.Entry of judgment

Ch. VII: Judgment · Current through June 1, 2026 · Last verified September 9, 2026

In one sentenceRule 58 makes entry simple: the order of the court is the judgment of the court.

Full Text of Rule 58

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The order of the Court shall constitute the judgment of the Court.

End

Plain-English Summary

One sentence, and it eliminates a whole category of procedural argument.

In many courts the judgment is a separate document that must be prepared, presented and entered on a docket, and the date on which that happened decides when an appeal period began. Litigants lose appeals over it.

Delaware's Family Court says the order IS the judgment. There is no second document, no gap between deciding and entering, and no question about which paper started the clock.

Read with Rule 54's definition of a judgment as any order from which an appeal lies, the two rules between them make the appealable event obvious on the face of the docket — which is exactly what a self-represented litigant needs it to be.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is a Delaware Family Court judgment entered?

The order of the court constitutes the judgment of the court — there is no separate judgment document to be entered afterwards.

Do I need a separate judgment before appealing?

No. The order is the judgment, and Rule 54 defines a judgment as any order from which an appeal lies.

Source & verification. The rule text and amendment history are reproduced verbatim from the Delaware Family Court Rules of Civil Procedure (Fam. Ct. Civ. R. 58), and every rule has been checked word for word against the Delaware Family Court’s own published edition of these rules. Current through June 1, 2026. The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified September 9, 2026. · Official source

Also known as: entry of judgment Delaware Family Courtorder is the judgment DelawareFam. Ct. Civ. R. 58