Whether you want to check the status of your own ongoing case – especially if you are not represented by an attorney – or you’re trying to check up on someone else’s divorce records, it’s relatively easy to get this information in Virginia.
Where are divorces filed in Virginia?
We have the Circuit Court Information System, which keeps a record of both civil and criminal actions filed in the Virginia circuit courts. Divorce is always filed and finalized in circuit court, so this is exactly where you’d need to be to get this information. There are also juvenile courts and general district courts (plus a few appeal court options, which are rarely utilized in the majority of cases), but all divorces are heard in circuit court so this is the only place you need to search.
What do I need to know to look up divorce records on the Circuit Court Information System page?
Is it a civil – or a criminal – case?
It’s not entirely intuitive if you’re not a lawyer, but you’ll need to click the little button to indicate that you’re looking only for “civil,” as opposed to “criminal” cases.
Criminal cases are criminal, obviously – assault, battery, robbery, DUI, etc. Civil cases, though, are pretty much everything else, including divorce. (If you’re wanting to look up whether this person has ever been convicted of a crime, you may want to search using the criminal button, too, but you’ll have to perform each search separately.)
In what city or county would the divorce have been granted?
Maybe you can ask. Maybe you already know where they are living (or lived when they separated and/or divorced their spouse). Maybe you’ll want to search around a couple of neighboring cities or counties, too, especially if the results aren’t immediately forthcoming.
Sometimes, we do file in a court where the parties don’t (and didn’t) live. Mostly, we’ll file where the parties were living when they separated, but not always. Norfolk Circuit Court, for example, is fairly friendly for filing non-resident divorce filings. (Hey, it’s a filing fee for them, so that’s money in their pockets.) This is especially true if the case is uncontested, meaning that the parties negotiated a signed separation agreement. If it is contested, meaning that it is litigated, then the parties will more likely be filing and litigating where they live (or lived), rather than somewhere else.
Because of the time and judicial energy involved, courts – even nice courts, like Norfolk – are less likely to want to get bogged down in extensive litigation. It’s an $80-something dollar filing fee, which may be great if all you have to do is review an uncontested divorce packet. If you have 15 hearings over 5 years, it’s less worth the extra money – and a drain on the court’s already-limited resources.
So, you may have to search more than once using different cities or counties. If you’re in Hampton Roads, you might search Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and Norfolk before you find what you’re looking for.
How can I tell whether the case is finished?
You should be able to tell whether there was a final disposition; at the bottom of the page, there’ll be a super brief reference to the different important dates in the case. You should see a final judgment date and then a mm/dd/year listing that tells you when the divorce was finalized (or dismissed, or whatever).
And that’s it!
If you don’t see it, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the person isn’t divorced, but – at that point – I’d say they likely have some explaining to do. Did you get divorced in a different state? Can they show the copies of their divorce paperwork? Like so many other things, trust … but also verify.
Check – it’s easy!
For more information or to schedule a consultation with one of our licensed and experienced Virginia divorce attorneys, give our office a call at 757-425-5200 or visit our website at hoflaw.com.