Del. Fam. Ct. Civ. R. 45

(a) For attendance of witness; for production of documentary evidence; form; issuance.

(1) Every subpoena shall be issued by the Clerk under the seal of the Court, and shall:

(A) state the name of the Court;

(B) state the title of the action and its civil action number;

(C) command each person to whom it is directed to attend and give testimony or to

produce and permit inspection and copying of designated books, documents or

tangible things in the possession, custody or control of that person, or to permit

inspection of premises, at a time and place therein specified; and

(D) set forth the text of subdivisions (d) and (e) of this Rule.

The Clerk shall issue a subpoena, or a subpoena for the production of documentary evidence,

signed and sealed but otherwise in blank, to a party requesting it, who shall fill it in

before service. A command to produce evidence or to permit inspection may be joined

with a command to appear at trial or hearing or at a deposition or may be issued

separately.

(2) Subpoenas for the attendance at a hearing, trial or deposition shall be issued by the Clerk

of Court of the county where the hearing, trial or deposition is to be held. If separate from

a subpoena commanding the attendance of a person, a subpoena for production or

inspection shall issue from the Clerk for the county in which the production or inspection

is to be made.

(3) If the subpoena commands the production of documents, electronically stored

information, or tangible things or the inspection of premises before trial, then before it is

served on the person to whom it is directed, a notice and a copy of the subpoena must be

served on each party.

(b) Omitted.

(c) Service. A subpoena may be served by the sheriff, by the sheriff’s deputy or by any other

person who is not a party and is not less than 18 years of age. Service of a subpoena upon a

person named therein shall be made by delivering a copy thereof to such person. Prior notice

of any inspection of premises before trial shall be served on each party in the manner

prescribed by Rule 5(c). Proof of service shall be made by filing with the Clerk of the county

by which the subpoena is issued a statement of the date and manner of service and the names

of the persons served, certified by the person who made the service.

(d) Subpoena for taking depositions. Where discovery is permitted by these Rules, a party

issuing a notice of deposition provided for in Rules 30(b) and 31(a) may serve a subpoena as

provided for in Rule 45(a). The subpoena may command the person to whom it is directed to

produce and permit inspection and copying of designated books, papers, documents or

tangible things which constitute or contain matters within the scope of the examination

permitted by Rule 26(g), but in that event the subpoena will be subject to the provisions of

Rule 26(h) and subdivision (a) of this Rule. The person to whom the subpoena is directed

may, within 14 days after the service thereof or on or before the time specified in the

subpoena for compliance if such time is less than 14 days after service, serve upon the

attorney designated in the subpoena written objections to inspection or copying of any or all

of the designated materials. If objection is made, the party serving the subpoena shall not be

entitled to inspect or copy the materials except pursuant to an order of the Court from which

the subpoena was issued. The party serving the subpoena may, if objection has been made,

move upon notice to the deponent for an order at any time on or before the taking of the

deposition. The attendance of witnesses and the production by them of designated documents

or tangible things taken at depositions elsewhere than the State of Delaware may be

compelled by whatever means are available under the laws of the place where the

examination is held.

(e) Subpoena for hearing or trial. At the request of any party, subpoenas for the attendance at a

hearing or trial shall be issued by the Clerk.

(f) Contempt. Failure by any person without adequate excuse to obey a subpoena served upon the

person may be deemed a contempt.

(g) Medical records. The following procedure shall govern production of medical records under

subpoena for trial purposes:

(1) In responding to a subpoena calling for the production of medical records belonging to a

hospital or other institution having custody of medical records or records relating to the

physical condition of a party, it will be considered that the institution has complied if it

delivers within 10 days of receipt of the subpoena, or on the trial date set forth in the

subpoena, whichever is sooner, either personally or by registered mail, return receipt

requested, or by certified mail, to the Clerk issuing the subpoena to the original record,

including all documents and x-rays relating to the medical record and meets all the other

requirements hereinafter stated. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, instead of the

original records, legible photocopies thereof may be furnished.

(2) The documents and x-rays so delivered shall be kept in the custody of the Clerk of Court,

in the envelope or envelopes in which they are supplied by the institution. This envelope

shall be clearly marked to identify the contents, the name of the patient, the title and

number of the court case, and shall be of a distinctive type and form approved by the

Court. The Clerk shall be charged with the custody and preservation of the envelope and

its contents and shall not release them from custody except upon the Court’s order or as

otherwise provided herein. However, the Clerk shall permit counsel for any party in the

case for which the medical records were furnished or any party thereto who is

unrepresented by counsel to inspect such records while they remain within the custody of

the Clerk. Copies may only be made upon Court order.

(3) The admissibility of the contents of the medical record shall be in no way affected or

altered by these procedures and shall remain and be subject to the same rulings by the

Court and objections by trial counsel as would exist if the original records were

personally produced by the subpoenaed party, except that the certification referred to in

subparagraph (2) above shall constitute sufficient evidence of genuineness of the record.

(4) The contents of the record as aforesaid shall be preserved and maintained as a cohesive

unit and shall not be separated or released except as provided herein or upon the order of

the Court. Forty days after any final notice, stipulation or order dismissing or otherwise

terminating any case in which medical records have been subpoenaed, if no appeal is in

process, or in the event of appeal proceedings, after any final order terminating the same,

any original records shall be returned to the institution. It shall be the responsibility of the

institution to arrange to take delivery of the records at the office of the Clerk. If

photocopies were supplied, they need not be returned.

(5) Upon receipt of the documents and x-rays in connection with any pending action, the

Clerk shall promptly notify all attorneys of record in the case in which the subpoena was

issued that the documents involved have been delivered to the Court pursuant to the

procedure outlined above. For purposes of this notice it will be considered adequate for

the Clerk to inform the attorneys of the receipt of the record, the title and number of the

case, and the name of the person to whom the record relates.

(6) Compliance with the foregoing procedures shall be generally construed as full

compliance with the subpoena. In availing itself of the option afforded by this rule in

responding to a subpoena, the institution shall take such action as the Court may direct on

application of any party.

(h) Protection of persons subject to subpoenas.

(1) A party or an attorney responsible for the issuance and service of a subpoena shall take

reasonable steps to avoid imposing undue burden or expense on a person subject to that

subpoena. The Court on behalf of which the subpoena was issued shall enforce this duty

and may impose upon the party or attorney in breach of the duty an appropriate sanction,

which may include, but is not limited to, lost earnings and a reasonable attorney’s fee.

(2)(A) A person commanded to produced and permit inspection and copying of designated

books, papers, documents of tangible things or inspection of premises need not appear in

person at the place of production or inspection unless commanded to appear for

deposition, hearing or trial.

(B) Subject to paragraph (i)(2) of this Rule, a person commanded to produce and permit

inspection and copying may within 14 days after service of the subpoena or before the

time specified for compliance if such time is less than 14 days after service, serve

upon the party or attorney designated in the subpoena written objection to inspection

or copying of any or all of the designated materials or of the premises. If objection is

made, the party serving the subpoena shall not be entitled to inspect and copy the

materials or inspect the premises except pursuant to an order of the Court by which

the subpoena was issued. If objection has been made, the party serving the subpoena

may, upon notice to the person commanded to produce, move at any time for an order

to compel production. Such an order to compel production shall protect any person

who is not a party or an officer of a party from significant expense resulting from the

inspection and copying commanded.

(3)(A) On timely motion, the Court by which a subpoena was issued shall quash or modify

the subpoena if it (i) fails to allow reasonable time for compliance; (ii) requires disclosure

of privileged or other protected matter and no exception or waiver applies; or (iii)

subjects a person to undue burden.

(B) If a subpoena (i) requires disclosure of a trade secret or other confidential research,

development, or commercial information, or (ii) requires disclosure of an unretained

expert’s opinion or information not describing specific events or occurrences in

dispute and resulting from the expert’s study made not at the request of any party, the

Court may, to protect a person subject to or affected by subpoena, quash or modify

the subpoena or, if the party in whose behalf the subpoena is issued shows a

substantial need for the testimony or material that cannot be otherwise met without

undue hardship and assures that the person to whom the subpoena is addressed will be

reasonably compensated, the Court may order appearance or production only upon

specified conditions.

(i) Duty in responding to subpoena.

(1) A person responding to a subpoena to produce documents shall produce them as they are

kept in the usual course of business or shall organize and label them to correspond with

the categories in the demand.

(2) When information subject to a subpoena is withheld on a claim that it is privileged or

subject to protection as trial preparation materials, the claim shall be made expressly and

shall be supported by a description of the nature of the documents, communications, or

things not produced that is sufficient ot enable the demanding party to contest the claim.