How to Find Divorce Records
Find out basic information about the parties., Determine the judicial circuit where they filed., Conduct your search.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Find out basic information about the parties.
It’ll be difficult to find a divorce record without some basic pieces of information.
At a minimum, you should try to get the following:
The full name for each spouse.
Try to get the wife’s maiden name also, just in case she changed her name prior to the divorce.
The state and county where they filed for divorce.
It’s likely they divorced in a county where they have lived.
You can find where people have lived by using online websites such as Intelius.
The date of the divorce.
This is required in some jurisdictions.
You may need to search a range of dates or contact the Department of Vital Records directly. -
Step 2: Determine the judicial circuit where they filed.
A judicial circuit is the territory of a court.
In most states, there are fewer judicial circuits than there are counties, meaning several counties make up one judicial circuit.Almost every state has a website for its court system, and a directory of circuits should be listed there.
If you want a head start, visit http://www.open-public-records.com, where you can find a link to the court system's website.
Some states have a dedicated system of family courts, so find the circuit for the family court. , Find the records section on the website and search by name.
You'll usually get a record of all filings for that person.
Go through the records to find the divorce case.
You probably can’t access the actual divorce decree on a website.
Instead, write down the case number and contact the court directly to make a records request.
Most court websites will have instructions on how to do this.
Contact the court if they don’t.
However, many states don’t allow third parties to access actual divorce decrees. -
Step 3: Conduct your search.
Detailed Guide
It’ll be difficult to find a divorce record without some basic pieces of information.
At a minimum, you should try to get the following:
The full name for each spouse.
Try to get the wife’s maiden name also, just in case she changed her name prior to the divorce.
The state and county where they filed for divorce.
It’s likely they divorced in a county where they have lived.
You can find where people have lived by using online websites such as Intelius.
The date of the divorce.
This is required in some jurisdictions.
You may need to search a range of dates or contact the Department of Vital Records directly.
A judicial circuit is the territory of a court.
In most states, there are fewer judicial circuits than there are counties, meaning several counties make up one judicial circuit.Almost every state has a website for its court system, and a directory of circuits should be listed there.
If you want a head start, visit http://www.open-public-records.com, where you can find a link to the court system's website.
Some states have a dedicated system of family courts, so find the circuit for the family court. , Find the records section on the website and search by name.
You'll usually get a record of all filings for that person.
Go through the records to find the divorce case.
You probably can’t access the actual divorce decree on a website.
Instead, write down the case number and contact the court directly to make a records request.
Most court websites will have instructions on how to do this.
Contact the court if they don’t.
However, many states don’t allow third parties to access actual divorce decrees.
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