Searching For State California Divorce Records

Looking up public records at government departments in general will be a challenge to most of us but trying to find a California Divorce Records at their Office of Vital Records will be a test of character in black-belt proportions. Those who have tried are likely to opine that if you are able to persist with them, you are either a really tough cookie or you are just not aware of any other means.

The California Department of Health Services (CHDS) has recently reorganized into the following two departments: The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) and The California Department of Public Health (CDPH). If it's public records of Californians you are after, CDPH is the responsible department. One of their services is maintaining a central registry of California Marriages and Divorces. This task is undertaken through their Office of Vital Records under the Certificate and Licenses Unit. California is one of the four states which do not keep track of the number of divorces within the state. The other three are Colorado, Indiana and Louisiana.

In regard to providing Sate California Divorce Records, the Office of Vital Records in Sacramento, California can only issue a Certificate of Record - and only for divorces that occurred between 1962 and June 1984. More detailed information on California Divorce Records can only be obtained at the actual county offices where the divorces were filed and granted. The information attached in a Divorce Records In California includes the names of the divorcing parties, the county it happened at and the divorce court case number. This applies to divorces that were never finalized in court and the average processing time is 6 months but exceeds that easily during peak periods. It's also important to note that a Certificate of Record does not constitute a Divorce Decree. It merely indicates that a divorce was filed.

Certified copies of California Divorce Decrees are only available from the Superior Court in the county where the divorce was filed. The complete details of the divorce settlement are stipulated on this document. They typically include the rulings on matrimonial assets, alimony order and child support, custody and visitation rights. Disposition on all other contentions between the divorcing parties are also captured on the divorce decree. Divorce records and other associated information about an individual are commonly found in his or her Marriage Records as these two vital records inherently go hand-in-hand. As a matter of fact, a recognized alternative term for divorce records is Records of Marriage Dissolution so that would be a good place to look when sizing up someone's divorce background.

Divorce records often show up as substantive information in a marriage record search conducted through commercial records providers and vice-versa. At 36 million, California has the most number of residents and theoretically has a proportionately large amount of divorce records. County Divorce Records are known to go back hundred over years. Although they are somewhat scattered, they can add up to heaps but fear not! Divorce Records Online search is pretty advanced nowadays where you just let your fingers do the walking. If the government agencies have yet to get their act together, the commercial record providers long have, cheap and good.