Marriage is supposed to be sacred but too many people are missing the point these days. That’s why we have so much divorce. The divorce rate in the US hovers above 3 per 1000 of total population. That’s a million divorces every year and we have the records to prove it. As a matter of fact, they are one of the vital public records that are compulsory by law upon the respective state authorities.

Divorces are fairly straightforward in the US although legal professionals are usually engaged for them. There’s no stigma or social demerit whatsoever in them and for many, they’re part of lifestyle. It’s an indifferent matter; the filing, the hearing and then the decree but records are taken by Uncle Sam every step of the way. Actually, the practice of documenting divorces goes way back but it wasn’t until 1967 that it was formalized as a result of the FOIA, 1966 (Freedom of Information Act).

Divorce records are available from the state department placed in charge of the service. The information itself is free but a nominal fee is normally levied for its search, in direct contrast to commercial operators. For certified copies of original documents, the request must be made directly to the county or district level agency where the divorce was granted. The same applies for divorce searches falling outside of the central index.

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There must be occasions when you wonder about people’s marital history and wished there was a way you could know instantly. Well, there is and it’s called Divorce Records Online. They come in two versions: free and fee-based. Both could work but the question is which one suits your needs better? Time and money, that’s basically what’s at play between Free Online Divorce Records and paid ones. With a little research, understanding divorce records becomes easy.

Divorce records are regarded as one of the principal vital records. Together with Marriage, Birth and Death Records, Divorce records are at the core of Public Records departments across the country. Most states have had them centralized since the mid 60′s. Prior to that, they were generated and maintained at the respective district offices of the county where the divorce was granted. County Divorce Records are known to date back hundred over years.

The Freedom of Information Act in 1966 was a key turning point for public records in general, not least Public Divorce Records. Public divorce records under the control of government offices that were previously undisclosed became open to the public and have not looked back since. Except for officially sealed and private information by the courts, anyone has the right to request anybody’s records from the authorities in charge of the function in person, by phone, fax, mail or the internet.

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With the Freedom to Information Act (1966), divorce records and various others such as Marriage, Birth, Death, Criminal records and so forth became public records. This applies to all states although the use and treatment of these records are subject to variations in laws between the states. They are widely available from both government and private sources and County Free Public Divorce Records in Texas are known to date as far back as the 19th century.

One of the public services that are provided by The Texas Department of State Health Services is Texas Divorce Records. They can be requested from the Vital Statistics Unit in Report of Divorce Indexes and can be downloaded free of charge from the department website. Although nominal, fees are usually involved beyond that. About a hundred thousand divorces have been filed at the office since 1968 but not much beyond Divorce Letters of Verification is available directly from this office.

A Divorce Letter of Verification from the Vital Statistics Office only states whether or not a divorce was issued in the state of Texas. It contains the names of the divorcing parties, the county where the divorce was granted and the court case number. Fees are $20.00 for a letter. They are considered searching charges and hence not refundable or transferable to another record whether or not a search yields any results. However if a search results in a ‘no record found’, it can be used as proof of single-status (marital). Verification letters are available to divorces that occurred from 1968 to the last day of the year preceding the current one.

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Marriage license records are an essential resource of public information for future reference and studies. The most common examples of their use are in providing information on family history and genealogy studies, as official documents in legal proceedings such as divorce, identity and inheritance and checking up the marital background of prospective spouse or partner.

It was not easy to get hold of such documents back in the old days because they were pretty much handled manually. People had to go to the local government office and search through piles of folders for them and they were mostly professional investigators or government officials. With the advancement of technology, online marriage records have become a norm and any lay-member of the public can easily access them over the internet.

Marriage records are classified as public information throughout the country and are mandated by law to be accessible by the public. As a matter of fact, they form the vital record group at the majority of the state office of data and statistics with divorce, birth and death records. Anybody has the right to retrieve and view them as long as the rules and regulations are observed. Marriage records search is a common practice nowadays.

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Free Marriage Records Search would be one of the oldest documents on file in any state although they might have been done only at county level in the old days. Today, every state has a central repository for their archives. The Virginia Office of Vital Records which reports into the State Department of Health maintains more than 7 million vital record files to cater to public requests. They comprise 4 main record categories: Marriage, Divorce, Birth and Death.

The period of Public Marriage Records Online is from 1853 to the present and comprises only those that occurred in Virginia. They are only available to immediate family members – mother, father, husband, wife, child, brother, sister and grandparent with valid ID. Aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws, etc are not eligible for marriage records or any other vital records for that matter from the Vital Records Office. In that way, they are not considered public information until 50 years after the date of the event.

Although the public can obtain free public marriages records from government agencies in Virginia, there is an admin fee of $12.00 per certificate/search which is not refundable or transferable in the event that no information is found. If there’s information located, a report will be prepared for collection in 1 to 2 week’s time. If it’s known, the records can also be extracted directly form the Circuit Court where the marriage occurred. Full name of groom, full maiden name of bride and the time and location of the marriage must be provided to activate the request.

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Divorce can be viewed as the legal process of nullifying the marriage vows of two persons. For those nations where this kind of decree is being applied, it is processed at county courthouses or the like. This undertaking usually entails a legal hearing presided by a court judge. Upon the closure of the divorce proceedings, the records are submitted to the local designated office for filing and subsequent posting to other government agencies.

A recommended approach to gathering information is to start at the state level to find out what kind of information is available and with which government office; county, district or city. The Vital Statistics Office under the Ohio Department of Health is the state repository for vital Free Divorce Records of Ohio. Abstracts of Ohio divorce records are filed there. The public can search for them by mailing in a written request.

The Ohio Department of Health can only provide abstracts of divorces that occurred in the state of Ohio from January 1, 1954 to the present. Divorce abstracts are brief forms that list brief information that are extracted from the original divorce decrees. However, the original divorce records can be traced through them to their respective Clerk of the Court’s office it was granted.

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