California Updated And Free Divorce Records Online

By Claire Dowell


If you are looking for the records of a Divorce in California, you can head to the Vital Records Office, Department of Health Services. Initially, when the Health Department started disseminating divorce files, they did not require any payment. But throughout the years, the cost of processing requests have increased and forced the department to impose corresponding fees to whoever requests for them.

The Vital Records Office keeps divorce records between 1962 and 1984. They provide divorce certificates, which is different from a certified divorce record. Certified divorce records are maintained at the specific Clerk of Superior Court that granted the divorce. A copy of a divorce certificate serves as a source of information only, while a certified divorce record can be used as a legal supporting document in any legal proceeding.

A certified divorce record is given only to both spouses and their respective lawyers. Other parties that do not have authorization to access the certified records will only be provided with a divorce certificate. A request form can be obtained from the Vital Records office. The form needs to be completed appropriately and submitted to the office together with a sworn statement. If the request form is sent via mail, the sworn statement should get notarized and be signed by the requestor. There is a fee of $13 for each request and an additional $7 if the request is sent through fax.

Government agencies employ only a handful of people. That is why transactions take longer to process, reaching 15 to 20 weeks. If you do not need the records immediately, there should not be any trouble. But if you need them right away, you can get them from search tools. Government agencies have their own website where they keep public files in their database. Online search tools also have their own database and they have the permission of the court to provide the files to the public. Getting the files through online search tools saves you an ample amount of time.

Online service providers are categorized in two types: they are either for free or they impose a certain amount of fee for their services. Free service providers offer simple details regarding a divorce record such as the name of the spouses, their respective birthdays, the date and place where the divorce was finalized, and others. Service providers that impose fees also offer the simple details of a divorce record and more. Members are given the privilege of doing as many searches as they want and are provided with as much information as there is available. To become a member, you must pay a one-time membership fee only, and there are no other fees to be paid after which. You may also choose to not become a member and just pay separately for every search that you make.

Marriage and Divorce Records are kept together because they are inter-related. Without a marriage record, an application for divorce will not be accepted. Subsequently, without a divorce record, a person will not be granted a marriage license should that person wish to marry at a later date. Both marriage and divorce records can be accessed through private websites upon request. The requirements may be different depending on which state you are trying to access the records from.




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