View Free St Lucie County Divorce Records (Obtain Documents)

Search St. Lucie County divorce records for free with the tools and resources provided throughout this step-by-step resource.

Conducting a divorce records search is a great way to learn more about someone in your life or confirm the marital status of a person you’re interested in a relationship with. You may also access your own divorce records to handle a legal or business situation.

Divorce records are considered public government records through Florida’s Sunshine Law. While divorce records are generally public information, the law does not dictate the manner in which government agencies are required to make divorce records available; as a result, it’s crucial to understand how to access divorce details effectively.

This article outlines all you need to know for searching and accessing divorce records in St. Lucie County, Florida.

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

How Do I Find Free St Lucie County Divorce Records?

If you want to search public divorce records, you can start by utilizing the St Lucie County Clerk’s Online Case Database.¹ A citizen can use this online tool to search for divorce records by case number or a person’s full name.

If you are conducting a name-based search, you will need to narrow your results to avoid getting information on unrelated cases. Under the “court types” drop-down menu, you will want to select domestic relations and family cases. From there, you will want to select certain case types.

For divorce records, you will want to select dissolution of marriage, simplified dissolution, and annulment (this is when a court determines a marriage was never legally official).

Once you select those case parameters, you can enter the person’s name. If you know approximately when the divorce occurred, you can include a range of dates for your search to narrow down the results.

On the search results page, you can see all matching names, along with their party type and case number. You can click on the “+” icon to get more summary information, such as the case type and judge. To view the complete online divorce record, select “view case.”

The complete online divorce record will contain the date the marriage was dissolved and the case dockets. The case dockets allow you to view every action that happened in a particular divorce record. Typically, the docket will start with the original petition for dissolution and conclude with the issuance of the decree.

If you need additional information on a divorce record or want to perform a different type of search, you can do so with the St. Lucie County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller.² One option is to submit a public records request online.³ You can also submit a request for electronically certified records online with the St. Lucie County Clerk.⁴

They can also answer any questions you may have about divorce records by calling them at 772-462-6900. You can also talk to someone in person at any of the below three locations:

St. Lucie County Clerk – Main Office
201 S. Indian River Dr.
Ft. Pierce, Florida 34950

Ft. Pierce Courthouse
218 S. Second St.
Ft. Pierce, Florida 34950

St. Lucie West Branch
South County Annex
250 NW Country Club Dr.
Port St. Lucie, Florida 34986

All three locations are available for inquiries from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday.

Certain counties have cities and towns with their own city clerk offices that also maintain divorce records. This option is not available in St. Lucie County. While divorce records are not maintained at the town or city level, you can broaden your search and access dissolution of marriage records throughout the state.

The next section will walk you through the process of accessing divorce records anywhere in Florida.

How To Search Divorce Records Throughout the Entire State via the Florida Department of Health’s Bureau of Vital Statistics

After conducting your search in St. Lucie County, you may have a need to expand your search throughout the entire state of Florida. It may be that the divorce record you were searching for was actually issued in another county in Florida.

Divorce records can be accessed throughout the state with the Florida Department of Health’s Bureau of Vital Statistics. You can obtain a divorce certificate with this office for any dissolution that occurred from June 6, 1927, to the present. This document can serve as legal proof that a divorce occurred between two parties.

Note: It takes approximately 60 days for information to get from the Clerk of the Circuit Court that issued the divorce to the Florida Department of Health. If you need a more recent record, you will have to contact the Clerk of Court in the county where the divorce was issued.

You can request a certificate of divorce in person or by mail. For either option, you will have to complete an Application for Florida Dissolution of Marriage Certificate.⁵ This form can be used for either divorce or annulment records.

To complete this form, you will need to provide your contact information as well as your relationship with the person on the record you are requesting. You will then have to provide the divorce record information, including the full name of each party, the date the dissolution occurred (or at least a date range), and the county where it was granted. If you know the case number, you can include that as well.

You will also have to indicate how many copies you want and how you want to receive these records. The first certificate costs $5.00 and includes a non-refundable search fee. Additional copies cost $4.00 each.

If you need to search multiple years for a divorce record, the cost is $2.00 per year (the maximum search fee of $50.00). If you need your order expedited, it will cost an additional $10.00.

If you have additional questions about searching and requesting a certificate of divorce, you can contact the Florida Department of Health’s Bureau of Vital Statistics by email at [email protected] or by phone at 904-359-6900. Their St. Lucie County Office is located at the address below:

Florida Department of Health – St. Lucie County
5150 NW Milner Dr. 
Port St. Lucie, Florida 34983

Their office is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. If you need a specific document like a decree, you will have to contact the Clerk of the Circuit Court that handled the divorce case.

As a last option, you can order a certificate of divorce online with VitalChek.⁶ VitalChek is an approved third-party vendor with the Florida Department of Health’s Bureau of Vital Statistics. The cost of using this service is $22.00 plus an extra $4.00 for an additional certification.

While there are no readily available resources at the county level, you do have the option to check with the State Archives of Florida to see if they have any old dissolution records or a divorce index for you to view. You can make an inquiry with them about archived divorce records by sending an email to [email protected] or calling them at 850-245-6719. Their office is located at the address below:

State Archives of Florida
R.A. Gray Bldg., 500 S. Bronough St.
Tallahassee, Florida 32399

Are Divorce Records in St Lucie County Available for Anyone’s Viewing?

In St. Lucie County, divorce records are considered government public records and are available for anyone to view. Counties and states vary by their level of access. Through Florida’s Sunshine Law, citizens who want to search for divorce records in St. Lucie County have broad access.

Some states restrict access to people listed on the record, family members or those with a court order. Unlike some counties and states, there are no restrictions in St. Lucie County on general divorce records only being accessible by certain party types or after a significant number of years have elapsed.

Divorce records is a broad term that encompasses different types of documents. These different divorce documents may even be maintained by separate government agencies. Here is a brief summary of the types of divorce documents that you may want to access, what information they contain and where you can find them.

Divorce Decree: This is a legally binding document issued by the judge who handled the divorce case. This document legally verifies the divorce along with any specific terms that go along with it. These terms may include alimony, child support and the division of assets or debts. You can obtain a decree from the St. Lucie County Clerk.⁷

Certificate of Divorce: A certificate of divorce is a legally recognized document. However, it does not contain the same degree of detail as a decree. The certificate is legal proof that two parties were divorced on a particular date in a specific county in Florida. This type of document is made available through the Florida Department of Health.⁸

Divorce Papers: These documents generally include the petition that was filed for a dissolution. It also may include other related documents that provide proof of a divorce. These documents can generally be found with the county clerk or the court that handled the divorce.

Beyond the different types of documents, there is sometimes a distinction in the level of availability between certified and non-certified records. Certified records can be used as legal proof, whereas non-certified records are for informational purposes only.

For divorce records in St. Lucie County, citizens have the option to request either type of record without any restrictions.

There’s no availability to access common law divorce records; the reason is that St. Lucie County (and Florida) doesn’t recognize common-law marriage. Common law marriage is where a state views parties as married despite not engaging in the appropriate steps to obtain a marital license.

While divorce records are broadly available, you may struggle to find a particular document. In these situations, you may want to consider using a third-party provider that can conduct their own independent search. They’re often able to locate divorce records you weren’t able to uncover.

However – unless endorsed by a government agency – this information can only be used for informational purposes.

The availability of divorce records can be confusing without the right information. However, with the resources provided in this article, you’re well-equipped to begin your search for St Lucie County divorce records; as a reminder, you can search for divorce records for any reason you want and for free.