Check Out Free Collin County Divorce Records: Resource

View Collin County divorce records for free in minutes.

Divorce records, along with other government-generated documents, are available for public inspection and access thanks to the Texas Public Information Act.

The law does not require you to have a specific reason for accessing these records; you can look up divorce information out of mere curiosity or for official purposes. These records can tell you who someone was formerly married to, when they divorced, and what occurred during the process.

This brief resource covers all you need to know about searching divorce records in Collin County smoothly and efficiently.

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

How To Look Up Collin County Divorce Records (Free)

A citizen is free to search public divorce records in Collin County. To access these records, you will have to go through the District Clerk’s Office.¹ The District Clerk is responsible for maintaining all records of divorces issued in Collin County.

The quickest way to begin your search of divorce records in Collin County is to look up information with the District Clerk’s Case Records Tool.² You can use this online tool to search for divorce records by case number, name or the attorney that represented someone.

This is a general case record search tool, so in order to narrow your scope to divorce matters, under “case types,” make sure that the only option selected is “Civil, Family, and Probate Cases.” You can also unselect “Justice (JP) Courts” under the specific courts to search.

Now that you have set your search criteria, you can enter your information and view the results. The results page will provide you with the case number, party names, filing date and status for all matching cases. If the name you are searching for is common, you may have to click on multiple records since the results can contain other types of civil, probate, and other types of family law cases.

For the complete divorce record, select the case number. Here, you can view additional information about the divorce, including when the decree was issued and a chronological listing of all events that happened in a particular case. This information can be used if you want to request additional information from the Collin County District Clerk.

If you need a copy of a divorce record, certified or not, you can do so by completing and submitting the District Clerk’s Record Request Form.⁴ Using this form, you can provide your name and contact information, along with how you want to receive the records. Then, you will provide the specific case information, which can include the party’s names, case numbers, filing dates, and the specific type of record you are requesting.

The cost of a non-certified divorce record is $1.00 per page if you want a hard copy provided to you. If you choose an electronic copy, you only have to pay $1.00 for up to ten pages and $0.10 per page for documents eleven pages or higher. A certified copy will cost an additional $5.00 per document.

Payments can be made by cash, credit card, money order or check. If you are submitting a check or money order, you can make it payable to the Collin County Clerk. A request for a divorce record can take up to five business days to be processed.

You can also send a request by mail or in person using the address below:

Collin County Clerk
2100 Bloomdale Rd., Ste 12165
McKinney, Texas 75071

For historical divorce records (anything up to 1983), any searches conducted by the District Clerk will cost an additional $5.00.

If you have any additional questions about how to request a divorce record, you can contact the Collin County District Clerk’s Office by email at [email protected] or by phone at 972-548-4320 (MicKinney location) or 972-424-1460 ext. 4320 (Metro location). You can contact them at either of these phone numbers Monday through Friday between 8:00 AM and 4:30 PM.

Note: Some cities and towns have clerks and other government agencies that also maintain divorce records that occurred within their jurisdiction. Collin County does not have any city or town government agencies that can provide this information for citizens.

How To Track Down Texas Divorce Records via the Department of State Health Services

You are now thoroughly prepared to search for divorce records throughout Collin County. However, along the way, you may have determined that you need to expand your search further. While you could go through the cumbersome task of searching various Texas counties, you could also choose a method that covers divorces throughout the entire state.

Through the Texas Department of State Health Services Vital Statistics Section, you can submit a request for a divorce verification letter.⁵ However, a divorce verification letter is limited to certain qualified people, such as the person listed on the record or their parent or guardian. Other family members can also request a divorce verification, including a spouse, child, sibling or grandparent.

Lastly, a request can be made by an authorized legal representative or a person with a court order identifying a legal interest in the record.

For those who qualify, one option is to submit a divorce verification request online. Alternatively, you can complete a standard divorce verification application and bring it in person or mail it.⁶

Either method you choose will require you to provide the date and location (county) for the divorce, along with the full names of both individuals. You can also provide the ages at the time of the event and their social security number (if available). You will also have to provide your own personal information, including your relationship, to confirm you are a qualified person.

If you are not submitting an online request, you can drop off your completed application and fee at any authorized local office.⁷ You can also submit your application by mail using the address below:

Texas Vital Statistics
Department of State Health Services
P.O. Box 12040
Austin, Texas 78711

Note: It’s important to understand that a verification is not the same as a decree or divorce certificate. These documents come from the district clerk that issued the divorce and provide additional information.

Another option is to search through a divorce index to get general marital information. The Vital Statistics Section began compiling indexes starting in 1968.⁸ These year-by-year indexes are compiled with data submitted from the district clerks who have issued these divorces in the various counties in Texas.

These yearly indexes can provide you with the full name and age of the individuals divorced, along with the date the marriage was dissolved and the county that issued the decree. You can also view the marriage date and statistical information on how many children they had under 18 at the time of divorce. The file number is also provided, which can speed up any subsequent searches for the complete divorce record.

If you have any questions about accessing these indexes or any related issues, you can email them at [email protected]. You can also visit their marriage records FAQ page or call them at 888-963-7111 if you have any questions about requesting a verification letter or other general inquiries.⁹

Common law marriage is when a party never went through the formal marital process, however, after meeting certain criteria, the state recognized them as married. While not all states recognize this, Texas does. As a result, dissolutions of these types of relationships (sometimes referred to as common law divorce) are part of the records you can view and request.

Does Collin County Provide Information About Divorces & Dissolutions of Marriage to the Public?

Divorce records in Collin County are considered part of public records. While counties decide the process for making access to these records available, whether or not divorce documents are considered public records is determined by state law. In Texas, access to divorce records is granted through the Public Information Act.¹⁰

While divorce records are considered public records, there are exceptions. For instance, the courts can redact certain information that is considered sensitive. So, while a record may be generally available, certain information, such as bank account information or social security numbers, may be removed.

A divorce record can also be sealed in certain limited situations. The person wanting the record sealed will have to go through the process of requesting this with the court and providing a reason why it is necessary. They will also have to show that it will not have a negative impact on the public’s access to information and that there is no other option to prevent this information from being unnecessarily released.

When discussing the availability of divorce records to the general public, it’s helpful to understand the different types of records. Divorce papers and the general record are usually available through informal means. This includes online search tools and in-person searches.

With these documents, you can find general information on the divorce, such as when and where the parties’ marital dissolution occurred.

A divorce decree is a specific document. The decree will contain the specific terms of the divorce and is the official document that ends the marriage. When requesting a decree, you will have to make a specific request with the district clerk.

The same goes for requesting any type of certified divorce record. Certified divorce records differ from non-certified in that they can be used as official proof for business or legal reasons.

While there are no general restrictions on requesting these records at the county level, state agencies place their own restrictions on who can access these documents. As was discussed earlier, state records are restricted to certain qualified people.

There are third-party providers that can be useful in certain situations when you are looking for divorce records. For instance, they can be helpful if there is a divorce record you cannot find. These third-party providers can find records that may not be accessible via an online search tool or if they were issued in a different county.

When using third-party providers, it’s important to know the records they provide can only be used for informational purposes unless they are endorsed by a government agency. You now should have a better understanding of the various types of Collin County divorce records; the tools and resources provided will help you quickly search for any divorce record you need.