Huge Win for De Facto Parents in Delaware

Washington, D.C. isn’t the only part of the Mid-Atlantic region to pass groundbreaking parentage legislation of late. The Delaware legislature recently passed a statute creating de facto parent status when the de facto parent:

• Has had the support and consent of the child’s parent or parents who fostered the formation and establishment of a parent-like relationship between the child and the de facto parent;
• Has exercised parental responsibility for the child as that term is defined in § 1101 of this title; and
• Has acted in a parental role for a length of time sufficient to have established a bonded and dependent relationship with the child that is parental in nature.

“Hey, that sounds like me,” some of you non-bio moms might exclaim. Exactly. The ever-insightful Nancy Polikoff tells us why this is such a big deal:

Legal parentage has nothing to do with recognizing the couple’s relationship to each other, so parentage created this way is not vulnerable to a DOMA challenge. It is full parental status, so that means everything — not just the custody/visitation/support rights and responsibilites that some courts have extended to a nonbio (or non-adoptive) mom. For example, it means entitlement to government benefits as the child of both parents and the right to inherit from and through both parents. Also, most states have not given EQUAL custody rights to a nonbio mom, and this statute makes clear they are equal.

You should pop over to Nancy’s blog to read more, including a couple of caveats she notes. Kudos to the legislature for remembering the best interests of the children.