Senate Bill 30 Summary

• Creates a legal civil union status in Delaware for two individuals of the same sex, with parties receiving all the same rights, benefits, protections, and responsibilities as married spouses under Delaware law.

• Establishes eligibility requirements including both parties being at least 18 years old, of the same sex, not related by blood within prohibited degrees, and not currently in another civil union or marriage.

• Requires a civil union license issued by a Clerk of the Peace and solemnization by authorized clergy, judges, or other designated officials, with a mandatory 24-hour waiting period between license issuance and ceremony.

• Recognizes as valid civil unions any same-sex legal unions validly formed in other jurisdictions that meet Delaware's eligibility requirements and afford substantially similar rights and responsibilities.

• Allows civil unions to be dissolved through the same process as marriages, with Family Court having jurisdiction over divorce and annulment proceedings regardless of parties' residency, effective January 1, 2012.