County Divorce Records in California

Retrieving public information from governmentindicate if the subject divorce was ever finalized in
departments is usually not only time-consumingthe courts. On top of it, the waiting period could
but also bogged with procedures, requirementsstretch up to 3 years although the quoted
and waiting time. Requesting Divorce Records inaverage processing time is 6 months and a fee
California from their Office of Vital Records ofof $13 is charged.
California is a good example. Although it'sThe main document in divorce records is the
technically possible to obtain Free Divorce Recordsdivorce decree. Information from end to end of
directly from the office, the odds are long. Forthe divorce process can be found in the divorce
some reason, the available records there aredecree although the decree is mainly for officially
decades from current and far from complete.stating the court ruling in the settlement of
In 2007, day-to-day operations at the formerassets, alimony and child support, custody and
California Department of Health Services (CHDS)visitation matters if any. In California, all divorces
were reorganized under two new departmentswill be issued with a California Divorce Decree by
namely the Department of Health Care Servicesthe County Superior Court when the divorce is
(DHCS) and the California Department of Publicgranted. These decrees can be requested again in
Health (CDPH) purportedly to better serve thethe future but they are only available at the very
community. Public records went under the chargecounty office where the divorce took place.
of the CDPH. This service is offered through theirDivorce records are often intertwined with
Vital Records Office which reports into themarriage records, be they public or private source.
Certificate and Licenses Unit.Even in some official contexts, the terms 'divorce'
The fact of the matter is the Office of Vitaland 'marriage dissolution' are interchangeably
Records in California is quite lame where divorceemployed. This is because these two categories
records are concerned. Essentially the onlyof public records are intrinsically connected. As
function that is rendered there is the issuance ofsuch, it's common for divorce records to be
Certificates of Record and even that is limited toproduced as related information in a marriage
the period from 1962 to June 1984, shortfallrecords search and vice-versa. Some commercial
unexplained. Anything beyond will be turned awayrecord providers offer them in 2-in-1 package.
to the Superior Court in the county where theCalifornia population is 36 million strong. Given that
divorce occurred. Along with those of Colorado,some County Divorce Records date back hundred
Indiana and Louisiana, the California Stateover years, it's reasonable to speculate that there
Department does not keep track of the numberare millions of Divorce Records in California.
of divorces in the state.Scouring divorce records county by county is
For all practical purposes, a Certificate of Recordobviously not practical. Luckily, there are plenty of
on divorce is only a gateway document at best.commercial records providers around nowadays.
The information that is presented on it consists ofUnlike government agencies, their databases are
just the names of the divorcing couple, thegenerally cross-linked and they also have access
county at which the divorce is filed and theto proprietary sources.
assigned court case number. It does not even