Health Country

Retrieving public information from government departments is usually not only time-consuming but also bogged with procedures, requirements and waiting time. Requesting Divorce Records in California from their Office of Vital Records of California is a good example. Although it’s technically possible to obtain Free Divorce Records directly from the office, the odds are long. For some reason, the available records there are decades from current and far from complete.

In 2007, day-to-day operations at the former California Department of Health Services (CHDS) were reorganized under two new departments namely the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) purportedly to better serve the community. Public records went under the charge of the CDPH. This service is offered through their Vital Records Office which reports into the Certificate and Licenses Unit.

The fact of the matter is the Office of Vital Records in California is quite lame where divorce records are concerned. Essentially the only function that is rendered there is the issuance of Certificates of Record and even that is limited to the period from 1962 to June 1984, shortfall unexplained. Anything beyond will be turned away to the Superior Court in the county where the divorce occurred. Along with those of Colorado, Indiana and Louisiana, the California State Department does not keep track of the number of divorces in the state.

For all practical purposes, a Certificate of Record on divorce is only a gateway document at best. The information that is presented on it consists of just the names of the divorcing couple, the county at which the divorce is filed and the assigned court case number. It does not even indicate if the subject divorce was ever finalized in the courts. On top of it, the waiting period could stretch up to 3 years although the quoted average processing time is 6 months and a fee of $13 is charged.

The main document in divorce records is the divorce decree. Information from end to end of the divorce process can be found in the divorce decree although the decree is mainly for officially stating the court ruling in the settlement of assets, alimony and child support, custody and visitation matters if any. In California, all divorces will be issued with a California Divorce Decree by the County Superior Court when the divorce is granted. These decrees can be requested again in the future but they are only available at the very county office where the divorce took place.

Divorce records are often intertwined with marriage records, be they public or private source. Even in some official contexts, the terms ‘divorce’ and ‘marriage dissolution’ are interchangeably employed. This is because these two categories of public records are intrinsically connected. As such, it’s common for divorce records to be produced as related information in a marriage records search and vice-versa. Some commercial record providers offer them in 2-in-1 package.

California population is 36 million strong. Given that some County Divorce Records date back hundred over years, it’s reasonable to speculate that there are millions of Divorce Records in California. Scouring divorce records county by county is obviously not practical. Luckily, there are plenty of commercial records providers around nowadays. Unlike government agencies, their databases are generally cross-linked and they also have access to proprietary sources.

By: Ben Jen

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. This entry was posted on Saturday, September 12th, 2009 at 10:07 am and is filed under Health County. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.