Porter v. Baker-Porter

• Court: Supreme Court of Delaware
• Decided: September 2, 2025
• Docket: 354, 2025
• Status: Published

Opinion

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE

DANIEL PORTER,1 § § No. 354, 2025 Respondent Below, § Appellant, § Court Below–Family Court § of the State of Delaware v. § § File No. CK25-01752 VICTORIA BAKER-PORTER, § Petition No. 25-11135 § Petitioner Below, § Appellee. §

Submitted: August 25, 2025 Decided: September 2, 2025

Before TRAYNOR, LEGROW, and GRIFFITHS, Justices.

ORDER

After consideration of the notice to show cause and the appellant’s response,

it appears to the Court that:

(1) On August 11, 2025, the appellant, Daniel Porter, filed a notice of

appeal from a Family Court commissioner’s order granting the appellee’s petition

for a protection-from-abuse order. The Senior Court Clerk issued a notice directing

Porter to show cause why this appeal should not be dismissed for this Court’s lack

of jurisdiction to consider an appeal directly from a Family Court commissioner’s

order.

1 The Court previously assigned pseudonyms to the parties under Supreme Court Rule 7(d). (2) In his response to the notice to show cause, Porter argues the merits of

his appeal but does not address the appeal’s jurisdictional defect. The appellate

jurisdiction of this Court over civil proceedings in the Family Court is limited to

decisions issued by the judges of the Family Court.2 Under 10 Del. C. § 915(d) and

Family Court Civil Procedure Rule 53.1(a), a party’s right to appeal from a

commissioner’s order is to a judge of the Family Court.3 Whether interim or final,

an order issued by a commissioner is not a final judgment for purposes of appeal to

this Court.4 In short, this Court lacks jurisdiction to consider Porter’s appeal, and it

must therefore be dismissed.

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the appeal is DISMISSED under

Supreme Court Rule 29(b).

BY THE COURT:

/s/ Abigail M. LeGrow Justice

2 See 10 Del. C. § 1051(a) (“From any order, ruling, decision or judgment of the [Family] Court in any civil proceeding… there shall be the right of appeal as provided by law to the Supreme Court.”); Redden v. McGill, 549 A.2d 695, 698 (Del. 1988) (holding that the Court’s appellate jurisdiction over civil proceedings in the Family Court is “limited to orders, rulings, decisions or judgments of the judges of [the Family] Court”). 3 See 10 Del. C. § 915(d)(1), (2) (detailing procedures for filing appeals from final and interim orders issued by commissioners); Del. Fam. Ct. Civ. P. R. 53.1(a) (“An interim or final order of a commissioner may be appealed to a judge of the [Family] Court….”). 4 See Redden, 549 A.2d at 697-98. 2