Jessie R. Benavides
How Judge Benavides rules, drawn from 5 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Benavides
Jessie R. Benavides has served as a Magistrate in Chancery on the Delaware Court of Chancery since September 2025. She previously practiced family, estate, guardianship, and other civil law. She earned her undergraduate degree at McGill University and her law degree at Temple University.
Judge Benavides's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Benavides's own (checked October 11, 2026), so the court's local rules and general orders are the place to look (court page ↗).
Standing orders for every case in this court
Orders the court applies to all of its cases, whichever judge has them, as published on the court's website (checked October 11, 2026).
How Judge Benavides decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In a life-estate waste dispute, she gives a party who has fallen behind on a recurring financial obligation a final, time-limited chance to cure before granting the harsher remedy sought, where the party's testimony about the ability to pay is credible.
“Defendant has represented credibly that he has the ability and financial means to bring the mortgage current and continue to pay it. Equity requires that Defendant be allowed a limited period of time to remedy the mortgage situation before the Court entering an order terminating his life estate.”
Procedural preferences
In Sykes v. Mackay, Benavides declined to consider new dismissal arguments first raised at oral argument because the motion and responsive pleadings had not given the opposing party notice of them.
“because these arguments were not addressed in the Motion and the Responsive Pleadings, the Court will not take any of these arguments into consideration;”
Cautions
In Gray, Benavides found that a murderer could not inherit the victim’s property interest under Delaware’s slayer statute, while retaining his own existing share as a joint tenant.
“Only the slayer’s succession in the decedent’s property interest is affected and consequently voided.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss on grounds of lack of subject matter jurisdiction is DENIED. Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss on grounds of failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted is DENIED.”
“The Petition should be GRANTED WITH MODIFICATIONS. ... Should Defendant fail to bring the mortgage current and fail to file proof he has brought the mortgage current, the Petition should be GRANTED and his life estate terminated.”
“For the reasons explained above, I grant the Petitioner’s Motion to Compel and grant the Petitioner’s Motion for a Protective Order.”
“For the reasons explained above, I deny the Petitioner’s Motion for TRO/PI and grant Respondents’ request for the Authority to Act through a status quo order.”
“For the reasons explained above, I recommend denying Plaintiff’s Complaint for Confirmation of Ownership of the Subject Property and recommend finding that Plaintiff does not have an ownership interest in the Subject Property.”
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