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Divorce records

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MarilynB

MarilynB Report 24 Jul 2014 22:18

Thanks for this, found two divorces in my ancestors, from Ancestry, very sad but interesting reading :-(

Researching:
Stirrup, Williams, Winter, Newton, Johnson, Barrett, Bruce, Bruen, Hartley, Proffit, Rogers, all in Manchester and loads of other names and places

RolloTheRed

RolloTheRed Report 24 Jul 2014 17:27

Divorces heard before the High Court together with the witness statements and court decisions are held. However there is usually a date before which disclosure is barred - usually around 100 years!

Ay holds quite a lot of them where the time lock has expired.

I have recently been looking at the divorce papers of an ancestor with some interest as he went on to found one of the (still going strong) law firms in the Home Counties. Judge Dredd.

The case files for modern divorces have never been available for public scrutiny and most of the court records have been destroyed except for the actual decree obviously. One of the reasons for the destruction has been that one way or the other interested parties got hold of the files (usually children of the divorcees or the press 0) with any amount of trouble ensuing.

Law firms themselves have all sorts of archiving policies but typically they keep the case file for 6 years past closure and then copy the file to microfiche before destruction. Fiche remains far cheaper and more reliable than digital archiving. There are several companies which offer low risk storage of documents of all kinds.

When law firms merge there tends to be a big clear out of old case files ...

Researching:
The Man In the High Castle

Amokavid

Amokavid Report 24 Jul 2014 16:29

DC.... you can still get a copy of the Decree Nisi/Absolute,they are readily available for all divorces that took place.

Joan.

This from the National Archives..........

Decrees absolute (1858 to present)

Contact the court where the divorce, dissolution or annulment took place to get a copy of a decree absolute or final order.

Find the address and phone number for the court by using the court finder.

If you know the case number, a copy of a decree absolute or final order costs £10.

If you don’t know the case number, the cost is £45.

If you don’t know which court to ask
You can ask the Central Family Court to search for the decree absolute or final order.
This will cost £65.

Researching:
Research covered........Harrison, Holiday, Sharp, Garthwaite, Buttle, Lund, Smurthwaite.... ..York, Malton, Thirsk, Darlington, H on Sp Moor, H le Spring, Whitby........

DazedConfused

DazedConfused Report 24 Jul 2014 14:14

Oh er I hope not. I have lost mine and was considering getting a new Decree Absolute to prove I am divorced......

Researching:
We are all of us in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars, Oscar Wilde New avatar, my dad age about 3/4 months, could have been worse, it could have been the awful nude on a rug!!

Karrie

Karrie Report 24 Jul 2014 11:50

thanks

jax

jax Report 23 Jul 2014 17:32

No you would not really find those anywhere for the UK.....before 1937 you can find them

Would you like your divorce to be accessable to all?

I think they destroy them after so many years now

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/divorce.htm

Researching:
Nothing much

Karrie

Karrie Report 23 Jul 2014 17:29

Anyone know if there is a website recording divorces from 1968?