Free County Divorce Records Online Searching

By Darren Cole

Divorce is an official procedure in the US. Their records are mandated by law (Freedom of Information Act,'66) to be maintained and availed for public access and retrieval. Every state has a central agency assigned with the task under its public health or information department. They come under State jurisdiction and are provided practically free of charge. Although considered public records, certain information contained in these free divorce records are potentially personal in nature, thus, procedures are required for acquiring and utilizing them.

A main reason for people to obtain such documents is to provide an official certification of the dissolution of their past marriage or marriages as a pre-requisite to apply for a license to remarry. Other common reasons for public divorce records retrieval are replacement of copies that got lost or destroyed, official background checks and verification. Most of all, they are discreetly investigated by nosey neighbors, friends, relatives and colleagues or concerned romantic partners looking to advance the relationship.

If you know the particular county at which the Final Decree of the divorce was granted, the whole process of obtaining the associated information is much easier. You may have to visit the office physically especially if waiting time is an issue. Mail, telephone, fax and increasingly the online option over the internet are typically also offered. The standard information on divorce records comprises the names and ages of the couple, date and place of marriage and divorce, filing number, asset division, settlement, children and their custody and visitation arrangement, reason for divorce and other pertinent information. If there were multiple divorces, searches at State repositories will produce all of them as long as they were granted within the same state.

Divorce is usually one of the vital record categories that are provided by the central Data and Statistics unit of the State. Depending on the particular state, they can generally be requested by walk-in, write-in, phone, fax and over the internet. Charges are not standardized either. However, being essentially administrative fees, they are usually nominal as the records themselves are supposedly provided free-of-charge. Processing time also varies, ranging from hours to weeks, if not months.

The good news is that public records are abundantly found on the internet nowadays. Besides government facilities, they are available from many private websites too and come in primarily two versions; fee-based and FOC (free-of-charge). Private FOC resources usually have a catch and many of them just smack of virus and spyware outright. It's much better-advised to play it safe and stick with professional fee-based providers who are certified by a recognized third-party laboratory.

With commercial record providers in the fray, the industry has become highly competitive in price and quality. This bodes well for users especially private parties. Gone are the days when public divorce records were mainly retrieved by professional investigators, divorce lawyers and court officials. Private consumption has long taken over the lion's share of their access. After all, they're now very affordable, hassle-free and convenient not to mention practically 100% discreet. - 33385

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