Vermont Divorce Records

Vermont Divorce Records Search

The Statewide Vital registration in Vermont started back in 1857 at the time when the General Assembly passed the legislation which required towns to report marriages, births, deaths, and divorces to the Secretary of State. Before this time, many townspeople preserved these Vermont divorce records privately so that they would help in cases concerning the inheritance and distribution of property.

In 1896, the Legislature gave responsibility to the newly found Board of Health, a division of the Vermont Department of Health, for maintaining Vital statistics. The Health Department has retained the responsibility for maintaining vital statistics till present day. Since the turn of the millennium, the Vermont Vital Records system works with 8 events: abortions, deaths, fetal deaths, dissolutions, civil unions, divorces, births, and marriages. However, the State Department of Health only maintains records from the last 5 years; the previous records are shifted to the State?s Archives and Records Administration. All records can be requested by mail. Unlike some states, divorce records are available for public access. The form is available for many to print, complete, and submit. The records request for divorce can be made in person as well by visiting:

Vermont Department of Health
Vital Records
P.O. Box 70
Burlington, VT 05402-0070

An online form is available for interested parties to be able to print and complete online on the Official government site of Vermont. To order a certified copy of the divorce decree, you must first complete the application online, print it, sign it with the date, and make the payment of the fees for the certificate to the Vermont Department of Health, which is $10 for a single copy.

The divorce certificate is issued by the lawyer who handles the divorce dissolution proceedings. The court keeps the certificate with them until the decree becomes final. After this, a court clerk signs the certificate and sends it off to the Health Department for filing.

When ordering a certified copy in Vermont, you can always look up VitalChek to make the process smoother and easier. The online channel is state-approved and perfectly secure, with your online identity protected all the while. Ordering these records does not require one to disclose a lot of personal information. However, even through this online channel, it is not free to order certified copies of a divorce document. The fee for the issuance of the certificate ranges between $2 and $50.