California Free Divorce Records Available Online

By Claire Dowell


The California Vital Records Office, Department of Health Services is in charge of keeping files that involves a Divorce in California. In the past, procuring copies of divorce records was free of charge. Today, the Department of Health Services imposes a certain fee before releasing them to whoever requests for them. The fee is not for the records itself but for the process of retrieving them.

The Vital Records Office keeps files of divorces that were granted from 1962 up to 1984. Certified divorce files are stored only at the specific Clerk of Superior Court that approved the divorce. The Vital Records office is only authorized to disseminate divorce certificates which the court does not accepts as a legal file that can be used in a court trial.

Any person can request for a divorce certificate but only the couple and their representatives have full access to the certified divorce records. A request form is available at the California Health Department. The request form should be filled-out correctly and be submitted with a signed sworn statement. If the request is through mail, the sworn statement should be signed and be notarized. A request costs $13 and there is an additional fee of $7 in case you want to fax your request.

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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