Connecticut Marriage & Divorce Records: No State Divorce Record Exists

Connecticut splits into two very different halves. Marriage records are among the easiest to obtain anywhere in the country: two independent custody layers, no relationship test, and a flat $20.00 fee. Divorce records have no vital-records layer at all, so every request goes to a courthouse.

This page covers records. For the dissolution process, grounds, and residency, see Connecticut divorce laws. For the state-by-state view, see the marriage and divorce records hub.

Connecticut marriage records: town and state both hold a copy

Connecticut has no county-level records offices, so the local layer is the town. A certified copy of a marriage certificate can be requested from any of three places:

• the town vital records office where the marriage occurred,
• the town where either party resided at the time of the marriage, or
• the State Vital Records Office at DPH.

The state registry runs from July 1, 1897 to the present. Anything earlier exists only at the individual town office, and Connecticut's towns hold records reaching back to the colonial period. For genealogical research, the town clerk is the destination, not the state.

Because both layers hold the record, you can usually pick whichever office is more convenient or faster. Town offices often serve walk-ins the same day; the state office is the better route when you do not know which town to ask.

Who can request one

Connecticut's rule is one of the most permissive in the country: "A certified copy of a marriage certificate may be purchased for a fee by anyone who is at least 18 years old."

There is no relationship requirement and no tangible-interest test. The single restriction concerns identifiers: "All information on the marriage certificate is available to the requester, except the social security numbers of the spouses. Copies of marriage certificates that include the spouse's social security numbers will only be issued to the parties to the marriage."

So everyone can get the record. Only the parties get the version with the SSNs on it. That is a redaction rule, not an access rule, and for practically every ordinary purpose the redacted copy is what you want anyway.

We did not find a Connecticut confidential-marriage regime or a categorical marriage-record embargo on an official source. The SSN restriction is the only access limitation DPH states.

Connecticut divorce records: court only

DPH's divorce page contains the sentence that defines this half of the topic: "The Vital Records Office does not maintain copies of divorce decrees." The page then directs requesters to the Connecticut Superior Court where the divorce was granted.

There is no Connecticut divorce certificate, no verification letter, and no state-level index product to buy. What exists is the court file.

Connecticut calls a divorce a dissolution of marriage, and Superior Court handles it. The judicial district clerk's office where the case was heard holds the file and issues copies. To pull it efficiently you want the docket number, or at least the parties' names and the approximate year.

Court copy fees are set by statute rather than by each clerk, which makes Connecticut easier to budget for than most states. Per the Judicial Branch fee schedule revised effective September 21, 2023, and Conn. Gen. Stat. section 52-259:

The dissolution decree is the judgment file, so it is priced as a single flat charge rather than by the page. Section 52-259(g) sets $25.00 for a certified copy, "inclusive of the fees for certification and copying," and $15.00 for a copy that is not certified. The $1.00 per page and $2.00 certification figures apply to the other documents in the case file, such as motions and orders, not to the decree itself. An exemplified copy, the triple-sealed version some foreign governments and federal agencies require, is $20.00.

Finding the case before you order

Connecticut's Judicial Branch runs a free Case Look-up service covering Supreme and Appellate cases and Superior Court civil, family, housing, and small claims matters. Family cases, which include dissolutions, are within scope.

Use it to confirm the judicial district and the docket number before contacting a clerk. It is a case-information system rather than a document delivery service, so you will still order copies from the clerk's office.

Sealed cases and sealed documents are handled under the Judicial Branch's own access rules, so a case you cannot locate may be sealed rather than nonexistent. If you have a legitimate need and cannot find a file, ask the clerk rather than concluding no divorce occurred.

How to order, step by step

For a marriage certificate:

1. Identify a town with custody: where the marriage happened, or where either spouse lived at the time. Alternatively use the State Vital Records Office for anything from July 1, 1897 forward.
2. Complete the town application or the state application, or order online through VitalChek, which DPH names on its marriage certificates page. VitalChek adds its own fee.
3. Pay $20.00 per certified copy.
4. Expect the SSN fields to be redacted unless you are one of the parties to the marriage.

For a divorce:

1. Find the case through the Judicial Branch Case Look-up, or call the judicial district clerk.
2. Contact the Superior Court clerk in that judicial district.
3. Order a certified copy of the judgment file, the dissolution decree itself, for a flat $25.00, or $15.00 for an uncertified copy. Other documents from the case file are $1.00 per page plus $2.00 for certification under seal, and an exemplified copy is $20.00.

Older records and genealogy

Connecticut town clerks are the custodians for pre-1897 marriages, and many towns hold vital records from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. There is no state shortcut for that period; you contact the town.

Connecticut does not permit common-law marriage to be formed in the state, which means there is no informal-marriage record to search for; see Connecticut common-law marriage.

Related Connecticut pages

Because divorce records here are purely court records, access questions run through court rules rather than vital-records law; Connecticut public records laws covers the general framework. See also Connecticut death records, how to get a copy of your marriage certificate, and how to find out if someone is married or divorced.