Find Free St. Clair County Divorce Records: Resource

Search free St. Clair County divorce records once you know the databases, lookup tools, and record custodians that host them.

Under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act, these documents are considered public records and can be accessed by any interested citizen. Searchers may be interested in accessing divorce records for personal, business, or legal reasons — such as remarrying or updating their government identification.

Divorce records can also be used to learn more about a potential partner or confirm information about someone you’re curious about. However, you can search divorce records for any reason you want.

Dissolution of marriage and divorce documents may be accessed through different means, depending on the record custodian and the specific information you’re seeking. This brief article will help you understand how to access divorce records in St. Clair County, Michigan, by conducting your own search.

This resource was written by Attorney Robert Bailey Jr, who holds a Juris Doctorate from Widener University School of Law.

How To Access Free St. Clair County Divorce Records

If you want to access public divorce records, a great way to do so from the comfort of your home is to use the MiCourt Search Online Tool.¹ To use this online search tool, select the 31st Circuit Court of St. Clair County and click the “next” button. You can utilize this tool in two different ways to search for divorce records.

First, you can conduct a name search for divorce records. To use this option, enter the person’s last and first name.

You can check the “begins with” box if you only have a partial name. An option for narrowing your results is to include a date range for when the divorce case was filed.

However, when you use this method, there is no option to narrow down the search results to divorce cases or even just family law matters. You must review the results page to identify the divorce record you seek.

If you know both parties’ names, you should be able to track down the record quickly by looking in the “entitlements” column of the search results. This is where the case caption is, which lists both parties to the divorce record.

Your second option is to conduct a case search. Here, you can narrow your search to dissolution cases by selecting “divorce, minor children” or divorce, no children” under the case type drop-down menu.

If you have the case number, you can enter it. Otherwise, you can search these records by a specific year or filing date range.

For either of these options, you can view the complete online divorce record by selecting the Case ID. Here, you can view detailed information about the case, including the date the divorce decree was granted and a chronological list of all activities that occurred from the time the petition was filed through to the end of the case.

However, if you want to view the complete divorce record you will likely have to go or make a request with the court that handled the matter. Consider printing off a summary of the online divorce record to assist you with an in-person search or formal request.

Divorce cases are handled by the family division of the 31st Circuit Court.³ If you’d like to conduct a divorce record search or have any specific questions about how to access these records, you can contact them via email or by calling 810-765-4057. Alternatively, you could opt to go in person to the address below:

31st Circuit Court
201 McMorran Boulevard
Port Huron, Michigan 48060

They’re open Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM. You can also submit a request for a divorce record to the St. Clair County Clerk.⁴

This form requires you to provide a description of the documents you’re requesting, the parties’ names, the year the case opened, and other optional information (e.g., case number, judge, etc.). You’ll also have to provide your contact information.

The cost of receiving a PDF copy of the document is $15.00. There’s also a $5.00 non-refundable processing fee, regardless of whether the record is located.

You can also contact the St. Clair County Clerk for assistance in obtaining divorce records. You can email them or call 810-985-2200. They’re open Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 4:15 PM (they open at 10:00 AM on Friday).

You can also go in person to talk to someone at the following location:

St. Clair County Clerk
201 McMorran Boulevard, Rm. 1100
Port Huron, Michigan 48060

Sometimes – depending on the county – there may be an option to search for divorce records with the clerk’s office or other related government agency at the city or town level. While searching at the county level may provide a broader search, some appreciate the convenience of searching with a more local agency.

In St. Clair County, this option isn’t available at the city or town level. While you cannot search more narrowly than at the county level, there is an option to broaden your search to the entire state of Michigan. In the next section, you’ll learn how to search for divorce records throughout Michigan.

How To View Divorce Records Throughout the Entire State via the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services

You may have utilized all of the resources provided to search for divorce records in St. Clair County but still haven’t found what you were looking for. It may be that the divorce you’re seeking occurred in a different county in Michigan. When this occurs, it’s helpful to know how to view divorce records throughout the state.

The Vital Records Department of the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services provides access to certified divorce records throughout the state.⁵ The Vital Records Department has divorce records from 1897 to the present. A certificate of divorce can be requested in multiple ways.

One option is to make a request by mail. To do so, you must complete the Application for a Certified Copy of the Michigan Divorce Record.⁶ You must provide the year of divorce and the name of both spouses.

Additional information you can provide includes the exact date of the divorce, the parents of the parties that were divorced, and the county where the dissolution occurred. A completed form (along with a copy of photo ID and applicable fee) can then be sent by mail to the address below:

Michigan Department of Health & Human Services
Vital Records Requests
PO Box 30721
Lansing, Michigan 48909

You can also submit the divorce record request with the Vital Records Department dropbox, which is located at the following address:

Michigan Department of Health & Human Services
Vital Records Department
333 South Grand Avenue
Lansing, Michigan 48933

You can make a request in person on Tuesday and Thursday from 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM by appointment only at the same address.⁷ There is a non-refundable fee of $34.00 for a certified divorce record, regardless of whether the document is found.

You can also order a certificate of divorce from an endorsed third-party vendor, VitalChek. They have both an online and phone (866-443-9897) option, but it costs an additional $14.00 to use this service.

For additional statewide information, you may want to search a divorce index. Michigan Vital Records provides indexes of divorce through its state library.⁸

The Availability of Divorce Records in St. Clair County

The availability of divorce records in St. Clair County is fairly broad. Through the Michigan Freedom of Information Act, citizens for any purpose can search divorce records in St. Clair County.⁹ This is a great benefit for those who want to look up divorce records, even if they do not have a direct familial relationship with the individuals listed on the record.

In many states, access is only granted to people who are listed on the record, have a certain familial relationship, or have a legal interest. In these states, you will only be able to access divorce records that are very old (usually between 75 and 125 years).

When learning about the availability of divorce records in St. Clair County, it’s important to have a general understanding of the different kinds. While people broadly speak of divorce records, this often encompasses different types of documents maintained by various record custodians.

Divorce papers is a broad term for the general records. This typically includes the petition that was filed for divorce and related documents. You can often find these types of documents while conducting an online search.

The divorce certificate is an official document that will confirm the divorce of two individuals, including the date and county where the dissolution of their marriage occurred. This document is often maintained by a state government agency. For St. Clair County dissolutions, a certificate of divorce can be requested from the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services.

A decree is the official document issued by the court when a divorce is finalized. This document provides the specific details agreed to by the parties or issued by the court as it pertains to the division of assets, debts, custody, spousal support and more. To obtain this document, you will have to make a request with the county clerk.

It’s also important to understand the difference between certified and non-certified divorce records in St. Clair County. Non-certified records can only be used for informational purposes, while certified records can be used as official proof, which is often needed for various business or legal situations (e.g., name change, marriage license, etc.). In St. Clair County, any citizen can access a certified divorce record.

In searching for dissolutions, sometimes people want to look up what has been referred to as a common law divorce. In order for a state or county to have these types of records, common law marriage must be legal – which is a situation where the state recognizes two individuals as married despite never formally exchanging vows. In Michigan, common-law marriage has been illegal since 1957.

Sometimes, you may have searched with all available tools, and you still cannot find the divorce record you were seeking. This may occur for a multitude of reasons, including an incorrect spelling of the name or not having the right location for the divorce.

In these situations, you may want to consider utilizing a third-party provider to assist you with your search. They may be able to access divorce records you were unable to locate in St. Clair County or even throughout the entire state of Michigan.

If you need these divorce records for official business or legal reasons, you’ll need to make a request elsewhere. You won’t be able to use the documents provided by a third-party provider for official reasons unless they’re endorsed by a government agency.

You should now be knowledgeable on the availability of divorce records and the different types you may be able to access. You can now efficiently and effectively search for St. Clair County divorce records. Bookmark this page and refer back to it whenever you need to search for divorce records in St. Clair County.