Marin County Divorce Case Files

Marin County Superior Court maintains all divorce records for the county. The clerk office is in Room 113 at the Hall of Justice in San Rafael. You can contact them at (415) 444-7080 or by email at courtrecords@marin.courts.ca.gov. The office is open from 8am to 12pm and from 1pm to 4pm on weekdays. The office closes from noon to 1pm for lunch. You can request certified copies of divorce decrees and other case documents. Standard copy fees are $0.50 per page. Certification costs $40. Research fees are $15 per case if the clerk needs to search for your file. Off-site retrieval fees are $5.00 if your file is stored at an archive location. Processing time for records requests may take more than six weeks depending on the workload and whether files need to be retrieved from storage.

Marin County Superior Court

The Marin County Superior Court clerk office is located at the Hall of Justice in Room 113, San Rafael. This is the place to get divorce records for any case filed in Marin County. The court maintains all the case files and can provide certified copies of divorce decrees and other court documents. The office hours are 8am to 12pm and 1pm to 4pm on weekdays. The office is closed from noon to 1pm each day for lunch.

You can call the clerk office at (415) 444-7080 during business hours. The staff can answer questions about how to request records and what fees apply. You can also email the court at courtrecords@marin.courts.ca.gov. Email is a good option if you have questions but cannot call during office hours. The clerk will respond to your email and tell you what you need to do to get your records.

To request records, you need to provide some basic information. The case number is best if you have it. If you do not have the case number, you can give the clerk the full names of both parties in the divorce and the approximate year when the case was filed. The clerk can search for the case using this information. There is a $15 research fee per case if the clerk needs to search for your file. If the file is stored off-site at an archive location, there is an additional $5.00 retrieval fee.

Marin County has an online records request form at forms.office.com. You can fill out this form to request copies of court records. The form asks for your contact information, the case number or party names, and what documents you need. Submit the form and the clerk will contact you about fees and processing time. This is a convenient way to make a request without visiting the courthouse or calling during office hours.

How Long It Takes

Processing time for records requests in Marin County may take more than six weeks. This is longer than most other California counties. The clerk office warns that requests can take a while depending on how busy they are and whether files need to be retrieved from off-site storage. If your file is on-site at the courthouse, the request may be faster. If the file is stored at an archive location, it will take longer because the clerk has to order the file and wait for it to arrive.

If you need records quickly, you can visit the courthouse in person. In-person requests may be filled faster than mail requests. The clerk can tell you if the file is available on-site and how long it will take to get copies. Bring ID and be ready to pay fees. Even in-person requests may take several days or weeks if the file needs to be retrieved from storage.

Because of the long processing times, it is a good idea to request your records well in advance if you need them for a specific deadline. Do not wait until the last minute. The clerk office cannot rush requests and the processing time is what it is. Plan ahead and submit your request as early as possible.

Fees for Divorce Records

Marin County charges $0.50 per page for copies of court documents. Certification costs $40 per document. This is the standard certification fee for most documents in California under Government Code 70626. Note that the $40 certification fee is higher than the $15 fee for certified divorce decrees used in many counties. Marin County applies the $40 fee to all certifications.

If the clerk needs to search for your case, there is a $15 research fee per case. This applies when you do not have the case number and the clerk has to look through records to find your file. If your file is stored off-site at an archive location, there is an additional $5.00 retrieval fee. These fees add up so the total cost for a certified divorce decree could be $40 for certification plus $0.50 per page for copies plus $15 for research plus $5.00 for retrieval if applicable.

You can pay by check or money order. Make checks payable to Marin Superior Court. You can also pay with cash if you visit in person. Do not mail cash. If you mail a request, include a check for the estimated fees. The clerk will contact you if the fees are different from what you paid. You may need to send additional payment before the clerk will release the documents.

Divorce Law in California

California allows no-fault divorce. You can file for divorce based on irreconcilable differences under Family Code Section 2310. This means you do not need to prove that your spouse did anything wrong. You just state that the marriage is broken and should end. Most divorces in Marin County are filed on this ground.

To file in Marin County, one spouse must have lived in California for six months and in Marin County for three months before filing. This residency requirement is set out in Family Code Section 2320. If you do not meet the requirement, you cannot file in Marin County yet. You would need to wait until you meet the time limits or file in a county where you do qualify.

After the judgment is entered, there is a six-month waiting period before the divorce becomes final. This is required by Family Code Section 2339. The six months start from the date the other spouse was served or filed a response. Once six months pass and all issues are resolved, the judge signs the final judgment and both parties are legally divorced.

Permanent Records

Divorce records in California are kept forever. Government Code Section 68152 requires that divorce judgments be retained permanently. Marin County Superior Court maintains all divorce records no matter how old they are. Older files are often stored off-site at archive locations. The clerk can retrieve these files but it takes extra time and there is a $5.00 retrieval fee.

If you need a divorce decree from a case filed many years ago, contact the clerk office. The clerk can search the archives and locate the file. Be prepared to wait several weeks for the file to be retrieved and the documents to be copied. The clerk will tell you what the total fees are and when you can expect to receive your documents.

Who Can Request Records

Divorce records are public in California. Anyone can request a copy of a divorce decree. You do not need to be a party to the case. You do not need to give a reason for your request. The clerk will provide copies to anyone who pays the fee.

Some documents may be sealed or confidential. If a case involves sensitive issues like domestic violence or child abuse, the court may seal certain records to protect privacy. Sealed records are not available to the public. If you request a sealed document, the clerk will tell you it is not available. Most basic divorce decrees and judgments are public and not sealed.

If you are a party to the divorce, you can get your own records at any time. If you are not a party, you can still get copies as long as the records are public. The clerk may ask for ID if you visit in person but this is not always required for public records requests.

Self-Help and Legal Resources

Marin County Superior Court offers self-help services for people who are representing themselves in a divorce. The court website has forms and instructions. You can also visit the courthouse to get help with paperwork. The staff can answer questions about court procedures but they cannot give legal advice or tell you what to do in your case.

If you need a lawyer, you can contact the State Bar of California lawyer referral service at 1-866-442-2529. They can connect you with a family law attorney in Marin County. Legal aid may be available for people with low income through organizations like Legal Aid of Marin. The California Courts website at selfhelp.courts.ca.gov has all the standard divorce forms and instructions for filling them out.

Cities in Marin County

Marin County includes several cities and towns. The county seat is San Rafael. Other cities include Novato, San Anselmo, Mill Valley, Larkspur, Corte Madera, Sausalito, and Tiburon. All divorce cases for these cities are handled by the Marin County Superior Court in San Rafael. There are no separate city courts for divorce. No matter where you live in Marin County, you file and get records through the county court system.

Surrounding Counties

Marin County is located in the San Francisco Bay Area. It borders several other counties. To the north is Sonoma County. To the east across the bay is Contra Costa County. To the south is San Francisco County. If your divorce was filed in one of these neighboring counties, you need to contact that county's Superior Court to get records. Each county maintains its own records and has its own fees and procedures.

Make sure you know which county handled your divorce before you request records. The residency rules determine where a case can be filed. If you are not sure which county has your case, you can call the clerk offices in the counties where you or your spouse lived and ask them to search for the case.