The rest of what we have written about Delaware. Every figure is quoted from Delaware’s own statute or its courts’ own published schedule, and carries the date we last checked it.
Free and low-cost divorce help in Delaware
There is no public defender for a divorce in Delaware, or anywhere else — the right to a free lawyer is a criminal-case right, and a divorce is a civil case. What exists instead is on this page, with the link to each one. Start with the fee waiver and the question of whether your spouse can be made to pay your legal fees, because those two are the ones people never think to ask about.
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The short version4 points · tap one to jump to it
- The five things to try, in this order
- Legal aid in Delaware — Legal aid organizations are funded to serve people under an income threshold, and family cases are one of the areas they most often take.
- Worth knowing about Delaware — You hire a lawyer for one piece — one hearing, one document, a review of an agreement before you sign it — and do the rest yourself.
- What we could not confirm for this state — Compiled 31 August 2026 from each organization’s own site, the state courts and the state bar.
In this subject 5
The five things to try, in this order
Ordered by how much they are worth relative to how hard they are, not alphabetically.
- Ask about the filing fee waiver. In Delaware it is called Affidavit in Support of Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (Family Court). Form Family Court Form 257. Waives Family Court fees/costs based on inability to pay; a ‘Certification For Waiver of Fees Family Court’ fill-in form is also listed.
- Ask whether your spouse can be ordered to pay your lawyer. The Family Court may, after considering the financial resources of both parties, order one party to pay all or part of the cost of the other’s legal services, including attorney’s fees. (13 Del. Code § 1515)
- Check the statewide legal-aid portal. Delaware Legal Help Link lists the program that covers your county and what it takes.
- Use the court self-help service. Delaware Courts Online Self-Help Center / Family Court Divorce-Annulment page. Divorce/annulment process information and referral to Legal Help Link for free legal services eligibility.
- Try the bar referral service. Delaware State Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service (LRS). Statewide service; a 30-minute consultation for a reduced/consultation fee (around $35 per one source).
Legal aid in Delaware
Legal aid organizations are funded to serve people under an income threshold, and family cases are one of the areas they most often take. Being turned down by one is not the end of it — the threshold, the caseload and the priorities differ by program and by month.
| Organization | Who it covers | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Community Legal Aid Society, Inc. (CLASI) | statewide | Also reachable through Delaware Legal Help Link’s legal aid directory; general legal assistance line 302-577-5200 (free 15-min consult) and 302-478-8680 / 1-888-225-0582 for Legal Help Link. |
Worth knowing about Delaware
- Delaware has no in-state law school; no law school legal clinic identified.
Limited scope representation. You hire a lawyer for one piece — one hearing, one document, a review of an agreement before you sign it — and do the rest yourself. It costs a fraction of full representation and it puts a lawyer in the two or three moments that actually change the outcome. How it works, and where it is permitted.
What we could not confirm for this state
Listed rather than filled in. Every one of these is something we went looking for and could not stand behind.
- a law school family law clinic we could confirm is currently running
If you know one of these and we have it wrong or missing, tell us and we will check it and credit the correction.
Compiled 31 August 2026 from each organization’s own site, the state courts and the state bar. Legal aid funding and eligibility change, sometimes mid-year. Always check the link before relying on anything here. Corrections welcome.
Keep reading
- The national picture — fee waivers, unbundling, fee awards
- The Delaware divorce kit — forms, fees and deadlines
- Doing it without a lawyer
- Questions to ask a lawyer
- What divorce costs
- What two households cost