How to Find Out if Someone Is Divorced (6 Tips)

Whether you are a suspicious bride-to-be or a cautious parent, you need to know where you can look up divorce records and preferably find them for free.

Luckily, thanks to the improvement of record keeping on the internet it’s straightforward to find these records. You can find virtually anything online, and for almost no cost at all if you do your research right.

Divorce Is Common, But So Is Infidelity

It comes as no surprise that almost 50% of marriages in the US end up in divorce. To paint a better picture, in America alone there is a divorce every 13 seconds. (That’s 6,646 divorces per day.)

Divorce is extremely personal, and most of the time it’s not very amicable. A recent survey tells the same tale by claiming that the number one reason for divorce is infidelity.

Indefinitely, it makes sense that divorce records are one of the most sought-after records of an intimate nature.

Why Would Someone Need Divorce Records?

In many cases, the reason for a person to seek divorce records is to obtain information on a potential husband or wife for peace of mind. They want to know their relationship status; if their significant other is divorced, separated, married or if they have never been married.

Divorce records can also come in handy in situations where someone has had a string of marriages ending in divorce. There may be more concerns to address if this is the case.

Divorce Records Include Valuable Information On A Person Such As:

Names of the individual and their ex-spouse:

• Marriage location.
• Divorce location.
• Divorce date.
• Reason for divorce.
• Number of children (if any).
• Settlement

Applicable court judgments, such as:

• Property division.
• Alimony or other spousal support.
• Custody agreements, including child support.

Is Divorce A Public Record?

Divorce records are considered public records are falling under State jurisdiction. According to the law, they are legally available to any member of the community for whatever personal use necessary.

But the truth is, just because these records are open to the general public doesn't mean they're easily and readily accessible.

A divorce record does not solely prove that a person is divorced, they are often required for legal transactions. This ranges from correcting your name on your Social Security card to your driver’s license and virtually every other legal document.

Are Divorce Records Available To The Public?

Yes, divorce records are available to the public in virtually every state within the U.S.

Generally speaking, court proceedings are public matters, and this includes divorce proceedings. Anyone can have access to the details within a divorce record.

However, if a person’s divorce were sealed by a judge presiding over a previous case, accessing the records becomes difficult.

Before You Look For Divorce Records, There Might Be A Few Other Options To Try First

If you want to try to find out if the person you are getting serious with has any relationship altering secrets, there are a few signs to look for. Alongside with searching for marriage records, these steps can help determine your partner’s current or past relationship status.

Step 01. Check a person’s social media accounts.

Check out their Facebook to look for some clues. Most Facebook profiles have a relationship status with them. If you have been with someone for a decent amount of time, it is custom to have that person as a Facebook friend and sharing that the both of you are in a mutual relationship with each other.

If they don’t have a Facebook account, you can perform a people search to see their related people and look up their related people on Facebook for any clues. If you see pictures of your man or woman with someone of the opposite sex, you have every right to ask about them.

Step 02. Look for any engagement or wedding jewelry.

Look in his pockets if you can, there might be a surprise wedding ring or band in there as well.

Step 03. She might have a tattoo of someone else’s name.

This is a powerful clue that there has been or is someone her life that is important enough to be forever inked on her skin. It could be one of her children or a spouse, past or current.

You would be surprised at how many people do this. In my family, both my spouse and I have name tattoos. It’s the ultimate way to show affection.

Step 04. Keep track of when he calls you.

If he doesn’t contact you for over a day and does this often, that’s a red flag.

Additionally, be wary if he doesn’t answer your calls and call back later in a public or quiet area. This could mean that your special person is keeping you a secret from their work life and family life.

Search Tip: Bulletproof Guide on How To Do A Free Reverse Cell Phone Lookup

Step 05. If you haven’t met her close friends or her parents, it’s a sign that something’s up.

This could be two things. Either she doesn’t have anyone close to her which is weird within itself, or she is keeping your love relationship a secret.

Step 06. If you are in a relationship for a while, you should feel comfortable asking to check his phone.

If he tells you that you should trust him and won’t give you his phone, that’s a red flag.

If any of those suggestions don’t give the insight that you need, it may be time to check for marriage records.

How Do You Look Up Marriage Records?

If you want to find out a person's marriage history, the best way to achieve this is by accessing available marriage records. There are several ways by which you can get access to this information, either through the government or private businesses and professional record providers.

While the government and a few of these private businesses offer the marriage records for free, a plethora of these companies do charge for this service.

However, it can be worth to pay a small fee to receive easy and accurate information.

Many of these private companies offer online services which make the process even more seamless. Their website specializes in the compilation of this sort of information - marriage, divorce, and other public records.

These databases are accurate, current and up to date. Doing your research via these websites can give you a better idea and result of who you're conducting the search on.

Search tips

Searching by ancestry is a great way to achieve successful search result. You can also search by marriage location, church or by looking at the age and birthplace of the first child.

Additionally, you can look up marriage records for other family members as information found on the records of siblings can be beneficial.

If you find a record in the marriage index, do well to follow up and request for the original record.

After that is done, click on the database title, and you'll find the source information and description which will give you all the info you need and where the original record is held.

It is important to note that for you to get the full benefits available from conducting this type of research, it is critical that you have a few specifics when doing your search.

Can I just order the marriage record online?

You can also order marriage records online and have it delivered to your doorstep. There are third-party organizations that specialize in this and charge a small fee.

Keep in mind that you must make sure that the company have access to your record and can provide you with a certified copy.

What Are Sealed Divorce Records?

We all know now that divorce records are not confidential. In most places, however, confidentiality laws tend to differ, records can be completely sealed due to extenuating circumstances while in some cases they will remain open and available to the general public.

Divorce usually bring out the worst in couples, including their dirty laundry.

While the judicial system of each state operates transparently and is open to its citizens for accountability, it also recognizes that there are certain times when the circumstances surrounding a particular case, requires some level of confidentiality.

You Can Prevent Your Divorce Records From Being Open To The Public

The law court will not seal your record simply because the details are embarrassing, but depending on your jurisdiction you can protect your divorce records from being open to the public.

One or both individuals must ask the court to file the divorce record under seal - this means that confidential or sensitive information remained private and closed to the public. Courts can order entire records or parts of the record to be filed under seal.

A valid and reasonable reason must be presented to the court in order to seal a divorce record. In most cases, you, your ex-spouse and the divorce lawyers (if available) must make the request for a sealed record.

Here are some reasons the judge may put into consideration when determining whether or not to seal a divorce record:

• A child's identity in cases of child abuse
• A domestic violence or sexual abuse - victim's identity.
• Sensitive information such as Social Security, bank account numbers and other financial disclosures (especially if the allegations were later proven false).

The process of requesting for a sealed divorce record is as simple as stated above but, in most cases, the requesting spouse must show "good cause" to seal the records. The court will also consider other factors surrounding the subject matter, for example, if the damage the individual will suffer if the records remain public outweighs the need to keep such records public.

Are there alternatives/easy solutions to finding this information?

Absolutely!

Our people search website can help make your research painless.

By searching the name or the number of the individual or your spouse-to-be, you'll be able to leverage your research.

For example, your girlfriend or fiancé could have registered her phone under her maiden name, but her last name is different now.

This is a telltale sign of betrayal. She is either married or divorced and didn’t tell you.

With all the information provided above, you can now easily find divorce and marriage records for free, either by visiting the courthouse or with numerous online agencies.

Thanks to the digital age, it is speedy and simple to gain entry to a host of divorce records through various agencies on the web.