View Free Ocean County Divorce Records (Obtain Copies)

Find free Ocean County, NJ, divorce records seamlessly and without tedious research; check out the online search tools and guidance offered throughout this streamlined resource for a quick, effective lookup.

Divorce records can vary depending on the exact type of document requested; some include all details about the case, while others only state when and where a divorce happened.

In some cases, individuals may require official divorce documentation to complete legal processes, like updating financial accounts or changing a legal name. In other cases, a citizen may only want confirmation that someone has finalized a divorce for personal reasons or purely out of curiosity.

This brief article links to databases and provides record custodian contact information to enable you to successfully track down divorce details in Ocean County, New Jersey.

How To Access Ocean County NJ Divorce Records

Researchers can locate an official Ocean County divorce certificate from a few different sources. The state archives divorce indexes and records and makes them accessible to the parties in the case. This provides the divorced parties a chance to receive official documents pertaining to their dissolution.

On the county level, the county clerk or the county’s Superior Court may hold the records. The Superior Court oversees court records across the state. These may be accessed at the county level through the Office of the Ocean County Clerk.¹ There’s no associated form or online process to request such records from the county clerk, so contact them directly via phone to ask what they may need to search for the desired information.²

Send requests to the clerk directly at:

Ocean County Clerk’s Office
118 Washington Street
Courthouse, Room 112
Toms River, NJ 08754

Phone: 732-929-2018
Fax: 732-349-4336

The clerk’s office is open from 8 am to 4:30 pm Monday to Friday, except on public holidays.

Records may also be requested from the local Superior Court Records Center. This process is simple and may turn up results across the state. The entire process occurs online, with users downloading a form and submitting it to the online portal.

There is a nominal fee for requesting copies of divorce records and an additional fee of $25 for certified copies of divorce judgments.³ Divorce certificates are available to authorized individuals for $10.

In some cases, a third-party tool may offer access to divorce records, as they’re considered public records. However, records provided by third parties that are not endorsed by the state may not serve as official legal proof of a dissolution.

Information from these sources may be heavily redacted and provide limited insight beyond whether a divorce has occurred. It may be suitable for individuals simply satisfying curiosity. However, searchers requiring legal documentation of a divorce can use these results to locate official records but must go through a government agency for certified papers.

Read more details about this process below.

Review Divorce or Dissolution of Marriage Information via Cities Within Ocean County New Jersey

Regardless of the municipality in Ocean County, divorces fall under the jurisdiction of the county superior court. Across the county, residents can request marriage dissolution records from the Ocean County Clerk’s Office, as detailed in the section above.

Additionally, individuals from any Ocean County municipality can seek records from the New Jersey Superior Courts, as detailed in the following section. Beyond this, however, there is one other avenue through which people can seek official court records pertaining to a divorce within the county. When other avenues do not return requested records, the Ocean County Superior Court’s Family Division could provide further information.⁴

The Ocean County Superior Court is in Toms River, the county seat.⁵ The Family Division oversees divorces and has records of cases that occurred within its jurisdiction. Contacting this division directly may provide insight into whether they have an active divorce case or one has occurred and been finalized.

This department may also provide further information about performing an official records request. Reach the Family Division at:

Ocean County Superior Court Family Division
118 Washington Street
Tom River, NJ 08754

Phone: 732-504-0700 ext. 64050

How To Find Divorce Records in All of New Jersey Through the Superior Court Records Center

New Jersey allows the general public to locate their own court records related to divorce through the state’s Superior Court Records Center.

Keep in mind that only named parties in a divorce may access these files through this avenue, as it contains private information, and searchers must provide state ID to prove their identity. The only way other people may gain access to these records is with a court order stating to release the documents.

The clerk of court can be contacted at:

Superior Court Clerk’s Office
Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex
P.O. Box 971
Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0971

In this state, divorces must be filed in the Family Division of the Superior Court in the parties’ county of residence. Once a judge rules on a case and it’s closed, the court archives records at the Superior Court Clerk’s Office for a period of time, which may vary from county to county. Review the Dissolution Files Inventory table on the court’s website to determine how far back records go, as this changes from time to time.

While the Superior Court Clerk’s Office may not always provide the judgment of divorce, it can provide divorce papers, which detail the county, docket number, names of both parties and the date of judgment. It offers copies in numerous formats, which may come with additional fees depending on what a user requests. These types include:

• Plain copy: A photocopy of the original court record
• Certified copy: This is a plain copy that has a stamp with the clerk or deputy clerk’s signature to denote it as authentic.
• Seal of the court: This is a certified copy with the seal of the Superior Court.
• Exemplified copy: This includes the attestation of the clerk, the seal of the court and a certificate from the presiding judge to prove authenticity.

To request records, download the records request form and complete it with as much information as possible.⁶ The completed form can be submitted online using the Judiciary Electronic Documents Submission (JEDS) system, but users must create an account and pay the fee online via credit card prior to submission to receive certified, exemplified or sealed copies.⁷

To submit online, choose the correct processing location. In this case, it would be “SCCO” for records processed by the Superior Court Clerk’s Office. The department will email the records to the email address on the form once it has fulfilled the request.

To receive information about open cases, researchers must contact the county’s Family Division Records. Closed, archived divorce case information may be found through the Superior Court Records Center.

To receive more information about how to obtain an official divorce decree, contact the Superior Court of New Jersey Records Center at 609-421-6100. Direct questions about submitted records requests to: [email protected].

The New Jersey State Library publishes some useful information for people performing genealogical research, including details of publications containing historic divorce records from the late 18th and early 19th centuries.⁸

Are Divorce Records Open to the Public in Ocean County?

The Open Public Records Act (OPRA) grants citizens access to all government records to inspect, copy or examine.⁹ Certain information may be sensitive and redacted from records to protect public interest or personal privacy, such as a Social Security number.

Because marriages and divorces fall into governmental records, the state considers them public records. However, officially requested public records typically have fees to offset the cost of labor to access them. OPRA defines acceptable costs for producing and duplicating the records.

Public divorce records provided by third parties typically informally confirm that a divorce has occurred. Decrees, however, include more specific information about the separation, including division of property, custody of any children, alimony and other terms. Typically, only the parties involved may access decrees through governmental means.

Some third-party providers offer access to historic divorce records which may be useful for people performing genealogical research. However, these sources cannot provide certified records suitable for official purposes.

The state only grants certified divorce records to the parties involved with the dissolution, as they often contain detailed personal information.

Keep in mind that other sources can be used to locate Ocean County, New Jersey, divorce records as well; these county options may provide enough information to determine whether a couple has dissolved their marriage.