How to Obtain and Use Information in Minnesota Divorce Records

The Minnesota Health Department website, which holds its central vital records database, contains this interesting but discouraging piece of information: “Every 17 minutes a couple is married in Minnesota. Every 35 minutes a couple is divorced."

That may be why, like a majority of other states in the United States of America, Minnesota keeps track neither of marriage records nor of divorce records at its central records office:

Copies of certificates of marriage are available from the county that issued the marriage license, and divorce records are available from the county that granted the divorce. For ordering and fee information, you will need to contact the local registrar in the county where the marriage license was issued or the divorce granted.

If you need a ‘Statement of No Marriage’ or a marriage license application, you will need to contact the local registrar in the county where you live.

You Can Apply to Receive Your Minnesota Divorce Records

The state and county offices in the US, including the ones in Minnesota, are legally bound to maintain and update all records of vital statistics that include birth, death, marriage and divorce. In addition, when you ask for a copy you are legally bound to receive it.

So you need not worry that you will not be able to obtain what you want. You need to just know that you will not get the divorce decree, but the information on whether the person has been granted the divorce or not and the date and the county where the divorce was granted.

You will of course have to submit the request to receive the divorce record. You need to also ensure that you submit the correct application, approach the correct authority and also pay the fee, which generally will cost you $10.

We are living at a time when more and more states in the US are not only having their vital records computerized at the county level, but they are being networked to the central vital records offices.

Why Do You Want to Know About Minnesota Divorce Records?

There might be something vaguely suspicious about searches for divorce-related papers. Unless you are a lawyer or a private investigator, there might be some questioning about why you want to obtain such records. The good thing is that you can legally ask for them, particularly when you are carrying out genealogy research and want to know more about a family member, which is quite often the case.

Every divorce record tells a story and you can learn a lot about the people you are looking for. Apart from the personal particulars, you can learn about settlements, child custody and surrounding factors such as when, where and the grounds of divorce (though this is not available from the official channels, you can still learn in other ways).

There is another reason why you might be interested in Minnesota divorce records. Perhaps you are getting married and know that your would-be spouse was married before. You thus want to be certain that he/she has actually followed through with the divorce before you go ahead and organize your wedding ceremony.

How to Apply for a Divorce Record and What to Expect

When you are submitting that request, do remember to keep your letter concise and topical. Never include too many confusing or vague details. Always include as much information about the person and the incident as you can, including the date. Do also remember that you must not submit too many requests at any one time.

Once the application has been submitted, be prepared to wait for a while. Be patient and courteous, because it might take a while for you to receive the response. Though the office is willing to help you, they may be short-staffed.

Your other option is to turn to the Internet. There are a few websites that can help you in this. All you have to do is search online for Minnesota divorce records and you can find what you want quickly. You can thus save a lot of time and hassles.