Finding and Copying Divorce Records

Except in cases where minor children are involved, all divorce records are public record and can be handled as such. Whether you are doing your research online or in person, there are a few key pieces of information that you will need to know in order to get to the information that you are looking for and to document it properly. As mentioned, in cases where minor children are involved, these records will not be available to the general public. Because over 65% of all divorce cases in the country happen to involve the parents or custodial guardians of minor children, this could be a slight hindrance to some.

When you are looking into any type of public records, you will need to know the names of all parties involved in the case, those names which would show upon the front header pages of the legal documents under "defendant" and "plaintiff". if you do not have this information, it will be difficult for you to call up these records. You will also need the case number of the file, and in some cases having just one or the other of these pieces of information will suffice. If you have the full names on the file, the clerk may be able to pull the case without the case number.

When you visit the county clerk where the case was filed, another piece of information that you will need to know, you will need to go through the divorce records and mark the pages that you want the file clerk to copy for you. You will want to do this with paperclips or another item that will not permanently affect the original documents. Once you have found and marked the pages of the file that you are in need of, you can have them copied in singles or duplicates, depending upon where they are going and what they are intended for.

You will need to pay for the copies that you receive from the county clerk before you can leave the building, so be sure that you have some extra cash with you when you arrive to do your bidding. You do not have to disclose what you want with these files, so as long as you are prepared with enough information for the clerk to help you find what you're looking for, the entire process should be relatively painless. Online investigation is a bit more consuming.