California Public Divorce Records

By Ben Kingsley


Records of divorce in California are preserved in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act. Like any other state in the country, certain guidelines and procedures have to be followed to obtain such files. There was a time when the retrieval of these accounts was free of charge. However, when the costs involved and the volume of applications increased, the government imposed certain fees for this.

One should keep in mind that copies of such documents can be released only to those individuals whose names appear in the record, a legal representative and persons or entities authorized by state law.

The Office of Vital Records of the Department of Health Services in California conserves divorce data of the state which occurred from 1962 to June 1984. If you want to secure a copy of such files, you can submit your request via mail. An amount of $13.00 will be collected to cover the search fee and the identification of the specific county where the divorce was granted. You can also opt to fax your application but you will be paying an additional fee of $7.00. Your payment must be in the form of a personal check or money order payable to CDPH Vital Records. Make sure to indicate your phone number and complete address in your petition in the event that you want the documents mailed to you.

What you will receive from the above-mentioned agency is not an authenticated duplicate of the divorce paper, but a Certificate of Record which reveals the names of the parties of the divorce, the filing date, the county where the dissolution of marriage took place, and the court case number. It does not specify either whether the marriage break-up was made final in court.

One can obtain a certified copy of a divorce certificate from the Clerk of the Superior Court of the county where the marriage break-up took place. You will be required to submit a sworn statement that is signed by you, together with the completely filled-out request form. You must point out the vital details like the recent and birth names of the spouses and the place and date where the divorce was filed. The application you will send through mail must include a notarized sworn statement; otherwise, your plea will be deemed as lacking and will not be processed. Always remember that you will not be given any refund for the payment you made. Unfortunately, because of the manpower shortage in the agency, it takes around 15 to 20 weeks before you will receive the report you need.

Divorce is a common occurrence nowadays. So if you are doing a research about your family tree and you want a more convenient way to get a copy of a certain divorce decree, you can do so with the help of the Internet. There are a lot of available online records providers which you can choose from. Although the costs are slightly expensive, you can be assured to get the record you want in a few minutes, wherever you are.




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