subject: Online Searching Texas Divorce Records [print this page] With the Freedom to Information Act (1966), Texas 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 Divorce Records in Texas are known to date as far back as the 19th century.
The government department which is in charge of divorce records in Texas is the Texas Department of State Health Services and the service is provided out of its Vital Statistics Unit under the Report of Divorce Index section. These Free Texas Divorce Records indexes can be downloaded free of charge from the department's website. There are close to a hundred thousand divorce files maintained by the office but its function to this end is limited to primarily providing verification letters associated with divorce.
A letter of verification of divorce costs $20.00. It officially states whether a divorce was granted in Texas. It would indicate the names of the separated couple, the county at which it was issued and the court case number. If a search failed to locate any records, the fees cannot be refunded nor transferred to another search as they are deemed as searching fees. The 'no record found' is useable though as a single-status verification for marriage. The divorce indexes extend from 1968 to the last day of the preceding year at the time of search.
For other Divorce Records Texas such as certified copies of Divorce Certificates and Divorce Decrees, you must contact the District Clerk's office in the county where the divorce was filed as they are not maintained at the Vital Statistics Office. On that same note, Reports of Divorce Indexes before 1968 are not available there either due to the fact that divorce applications were not filed with the State offices until 1968 so they too have to be obtained at their office of origin in the respective counties.
From background checks to divorcees applying for marriage license, the folks in Texas conduct Texas Divorce Records Search for a multitude of reasons and purposes. When the subject has resided in multiple states before, it can get onerous as state databases are not linked. This brings private record providers into the fold nicely as their databases typically cater to all states one-stop. The top-tier ones also offer much better overall professional standards and services.
Commercial Online Divorce Record providers are the end-all solution for those who can see past the fees involved but only if you signed up with the right one. The demand for this type of service has soared in recent times due to its obvious edge over using public agencies. This has consequently attracted many pretenders onto the bandwagon. Having that said, it's not difficult to identify the bona-fide providers. One of the best ways is to check out the review on Public Divorce Records or specialist sites which are abundantly found in any of the major search engines. They seldom miss.
