Getting a Certified Copy of Your Divorce Decree
Your Georgia Divorce is Final. Now What?
Now that you are divorced you need to be able to prove it. You can only do that with certified copy of the Final Judgment and Decree.
A certified copy of your divorce decree (or any other document from the divorce case) can be obtained ONLY from the Clerk of Superior Court of the county in which your divorce occurred. Court case records, including divorce cases, are public records. Anyone can get them at any time.
When your divorce has been granted, we provide you with a copy of whatever documents that the Court provided to us.
The copy of the Decree that we provide to you when your divorce is completed is a valid copy of the Decree but it is not certified. You will NOT receive the original of the Decree because it is a permanent record of the court. Typically, the court does not automatically provide a certified copy of the divorce decree.
Why Do I Need a Certified Copy of the Divorce Decree?
If you have requested a name change in the divorce, it is the court order that actually legally changes your name. Also, whether you have had your name changed in the divorce or not, at some point in your life you will need to be able to prove that you were actually divorced.
If you are an active duty military service member, you will need to have a certified copy of the divorce decree to change your marital status with your branch of service.
Sooner or later, everyone will need to have a CERTIFIED copy of his/her Final Judgment and Decree. Certified copies (or regular copies) of the divorce decree (or any other document from the divorce case) can be obtained ONLY from the Clerk of Superior Court of the county in which your divorce occurred. We cannot provide them to you nor can the judge’s office provide them.
What is the Cost of a Certified Copy?
If you have a single page divorce decree, each certified copy typically costs $2.50. For each additional page, the cost will increase by 50 cents. However, if you go to the time and trouble of obtaining a certified copy, it makes sense to go ahead and get several. That way, you never have to contact the Clerk again. Some clerks add administrative charges to the cost of the actual copies. So, it is best to check with the clerk to make sure that you are sending the correct amount to avoid unnecessary delay.
How to Get the Certified Copy:
Contact the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where your divorce was granted.
If your divorce was in Cobb County: Click Here for Copy Requests for Cobb County Cases
The process for obtaining a certified copy varies slightly from county to county. But, universally, you can always write the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where the divorce occurred to the attention of the Civil File Room and request the certified copies and enclose a money order payable to the Clerk of Superior Court. You should also provide the Clerk with a self-addressed envelope with the correct postage so that the clerk can quickly mail the documents to you. In some counties you can actually telephone the clerk’s office and pay for the copies with a credit card.
If you do not know your case number, the Clerk can look it up for you by name. But, you must know which county to call. It is the county where your divorce case was actually filed and granted.
What About the Settlement Agreement or Other Divorce Documents?
You should also keep a copy of the fully signed and filed Settlement Agreement. But, in most situations, the Settlement Agreement usually does not need to be certified. However, if you need a certified copy of your Settlement Agreement, you can also get that from the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where you were divorced. If you have minor children in the divorce case, you may also need to get certified copies of the Parenting Plan Order and the Child Support Addendum (if these documents were separate from the Final Decree and Settlement Agreement). A copy of all of these documents can be obtained from the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where the divorce occurred.
Attorney Robert L. Jones provides uncontested divorce services in over thirty Georgia counties for a low, flat fee.