Acquire Free Orange County Divorce Records (California)

Check out free Orange County divorce records on any individual whose marriage was legally ended in the area.

Anyone can search and find free information on local divorces or dissolutions of marriage using convenient online search tools — see when a divorce happened, who someone was previously married to, the terms of the dissolution, and many other relevant details.

According to the California Public Records Act (PRA), public records should always be accessible to concerned citizens unless protected by law. In general, divorce proceedings in California aren’t confidential. Consequently, they can be accessed with very little effort and often free of charge.

This resource offers tools and pathways to determine if someone is (or isn’t) divorced in Orange County, California, and the circumstances around this life event.

How Do I Look Up Orange County Divorce Records?

Anyone looking for information about someone’s divorce in Orange County can find detailed information for free with the local branch of the Superior Court of California. The Orange County Family Law Records & Copies Department is helpful and makes court cases readily available for searchers.¹

Their archives include public divorce records (and annulments) and some of the records can go back as far as 1889, making it a useful tool for historical and genealogical searches as well. There are a few different ways to access the information available at the Family Law Records and Copies department. The Family Law Cases system allows concerned individuals to search cases starting in 1990.²

After accepting the disclaimers, any user can search cases by number, with no questions asked. For those who need to run a search by name, the system requires creating an account (which demands sharing some personal information, such as phone number and email address, for example), but it’s also free and quite easy to use.

In both instances, the results will show details about the divorce of interest, including dates, hearings, if it’s closed or still ongoing, among other things. With that information, whenever a copy of the divorce decree is needed, users can contact the Clerk’s Office and make a request. How to do that will be discussed in detail below, in this article.

For cases older than 1990 and when more support is needed, searchers can view files at the Court House using one of the public computer terminals at the Central Justice Center.⁴ Not all cases before 1990 are available through those terminals, but it’s a free way to further the search.

The Central Justice Central also keeps records of cases filed with the court before 1968. Searchers may need to ask the staff for help to find those records, but they’re available at the Records Management Unit, located on the 1st floor of the address above.

It’s also important to know that people are able to request copies very conveniently with the Family Law Records & Copies Department. Divorce records copies can be requested in person, by mail, or online.

In-person and by-mail requests follow similar guidelines. Concerned citizens must fill out a Copy Request form and be ready to pay for the copies they need.⁵

Simple copies cost $0.50 per page, and if certification is needed, it costs $40. A full fee schedule for all court services is available online.⁶

Those making their requests by mail must include the payment on the envelope, as well as a self-addressed pre-paid envelope so that documents may be sent back to them. This is the address to visit the Clerk’s Office (or send the request by mail):

Superior Court of California
County of Orange – Central Justice Center
700 Civic Center Drive W.
Santa Ana, CA 92701

Phone: 657.622.6878

Online orders can be placed with the Family Law Case Access. Searchers must create an account and order the request they want after finding the divorce case they’re interested in. How to find a divorce case was addressed above in this article.

Cases opened with the Orange County Superior Court between 1968 and 1990 can be retrieved at the Lamoreaux Justice Center.⁷ Just like in older cases, the searcher may have to ask for support from the staff to search this divorce index, but they’re available as follows:

Superior Court of California
Lamoreaux Justice Center
Family Law Division Clerk’s Office
341 The City Drive South – 7th Floor
Orange, CA 92868

Searchers should be aware that whenever a clerk is needed to search for records, the office may charge a fee. The usual cost is $15 for any search that takes longer than 10 minutes, and it’s helpful to have a completed Request for Record Search form.⁸

Search Cities for Divorce & Dissolution of Marriage Records in Orange County

As determined by the state of California, each county’s Superior Court is responsible for recording, organizing and keeping divorce records. Consequently, the smaller municipal courts aren’t the repository for those records and cannot, most times, help concerned citizens uncover information about this type of case.

Citizens interested in searching and finding information about divorces that happened in Orange County will benefit more from contacting the Superior Court and the many tools they make available. Considering the same is true for all counties in California, knowing how to navigate the judicial system is helpful in searching for information about divorces that were filed outside Orange County.

How To View Divorce Records Throughout the Entire State via the Superior Courts of California

Each local Superior Court in California is responsible for keeping divorce records and providing interested citizens with copies when needed.⁹ Similar to the Orange County Superior Court, each local branch has a way to fulfill its duties and provide people with those services.

Since the state of California doesn’t provide a centralized tool for individuals to search for court cases, searchers must start their search by discovering which county handled the divorce they’re interested in. The second step would be finding that court and how to work with them to accomplish their goal – which can be just searching for information or obtaining a proper copy of the divorce records they need.

To find information about every Superior Court in California, there’s an online directory that can help.¹⁰ Users should focus on the locations and contact tabs for family law support. Also, they should keep in mind that California courts usually offer three ways of searching for records:

• Visiting their Clerk’s Office in person and working with a team member;
• Utilizing the computer terminals available at the courthouse;
• Using the online tool, which allows for searches from anywhere, at any time.

Decrees for divorces are considered public records in California, so they’re usually accessible. When a copy of a decree is needed, there are ways to obtain it. This is what will be discussed below.

When the divorce happened outside of Orange County or, for whatever other reason, couldn’t be found using the tools already mentioned, it’s also possible to search for those records with the Vital Records Office of the California Department of Public Health.¹¹ They have divorce records from 1962 to 1984 and can provide copies to interested citizens.

Unfortunately, they aren’t able to provide the actual decree (which is only available with the Superior Courts), but they’re still quite helpful, especially when the location where the divorce happened isn’t known.

The Vital Records Office accepts requests by mail, which can be placed by sending a completed application with a payment of $16 per divorce certificate.¹² This is the address to use:

California Department of Public Health
Vital Records – MS 5103
Post Office Box 997410
Sacramento, California 95899-7410

Phone: 916.445.2684
Email: [email protected]

Are Details of Divorce Accessible to Everyone in Orange County?

As public records, divorce information is readily available to anyone searching for information in California. More specifically, in Orange County, those searching for facts about any dissolution of marriage can contact the Superior Court Clerk’s Office for information.

Unless the divorce in question is confidential (which is relatively rare),

Citizens should never hesitate to contact them by phone or email if more information is needed (or support, placing their requests). However, some things must be considered when searching and trying to obtain divorce records in Orange County (and throughout California).

Having divorce papers isn’t the same thing as having a certificate or a decree. The papers are the summons an individual receives to be informed that their spouse has filed for divorce and is seeking marriage dissolution. It serves to establish that a court proceeding will take place, and at the end of it, the divorce will be finalized – and that’s the point in time when both parties will have decrees or certificates to prove the end of that marriage.

If anyone has been served papers, the advice is to seek counsel and hire an experienced attorney, especially when children and assets are involved. Also, ongoing divorces will show on the courts’ online tools as divorces that haven’t yet been finalized.

Another important thing is that California is a state that has never recognized common-law marriages. Consequently, separations for couples that have never been properly married don’t require formal divorces. Just like a common-law marriage wouldn’t appear in any official search, common law divorces won’t appear either, regardless of what type of search is being performed.

There are many tools that can assist interested citizens in finding information about Orange County divorce records, and everyone should feel free to use them at any time.