Texas Divorce Records
Back in 1966 the United States government passed the
Freedom of Information Act which made a number of types of record
accessible to the general public with no questions asked. This pertains
to not only Texas divorce records but marriage records, court and
criminal records, bankruptcy filings, and other vital statistic records.
Just because these records are considered to be public domain doesn’t
mean that they are easy to get. Let’s look at how the state of Texas
handles divorce records.
The agency in charge of divorce records is the Texas Department of State
Health Services and the divorce reporting service is handled by the
Vital Statistics Unit from the Report of Divorce Index section. You can
download the indexes at no charge from the department’s website but all
this will tell is if a Letter of Verification exists
Unfortunately this letter will only tell you that a divorce was indeed
granted and it costs $20 to get one. This letter will list the couple’s
names, the county in which the divorce decree was granted, and the court
case number. If your search for a particular letter or record fails the
fee is not refundable. One other thing to consider is that verification
letters are only available from 1968 onward. To find Texas divorce
records before 1968 you have to go to the county clerks office of the
county in which the divorce was granted.
Once you have the Letter of Verification you can use the information it
provides to contact the county clerks office where the divorce took
place to obtain certified copies of the Divorce Certificate and Divorce
Decree.
Now if this seems like a lot of work just to get your hands on someone’s
divorce records then you may like the following option. Why not use a
third party data search service? You will have to pay a nominal fee,
usually 20 to 40 dollars depending on the service and the options you
choose. This type if service can return divorce records from Texas in a
matter if seconds.
These services also allow you to access a while host of other public
records not only from Texas but also the rest of the country. This can
be beneficial when you consider that someone may have divorce and other
records in other states. A third party service will allow you to do a
complete background check on anyone instantaneously. So why settle just
for Texas divorce records when you can get a whole lot more for just
about the same price. | 