Wyoming Marriage and Divorce Records: A Closed-Record State

Wyoming states its rule on the face of its own application form: Wyoming is a closed record state, meaning vital records are considered confidential information and closed to the general public until one hundred years after the date of birth or fifty years after the date of marriage, divorce, or death. Inside that 50-year window, only a party named on the record, or a lawyer representing one of them, is entitled to a certified copy.

Information last verified on 2026-08-04. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

This page covers Wyoming records. For grounds, residency, and property division, see Wyoming divorce laws.

What "Closed Record State" Means in Wyoming

Wyoming is one of the strictest states in the country on this point, and it does not bury the rule in a regulation. The Department of Health's request form for a certified copy of a Wyoming vital record states that Wyoming is a closed record state, meaning vital records are considered confidential information and closed to the general public until one hundred years after the date of birth or fifty years after the date of marriage, divorce, or death. It adds that, generally, only those listed on the record are entitled to receive certified copies, with limited exceptions.

For marriage and divorce certificates specifically, the form lists the people entitled to a certified copy as:

• either party named on the certificate; and
• a lawyer representing either party.

The lawyer entry carries an asterisk, and the form explains it: the applicant must demonstrate the requirement for the certificate. A lawyer cannot simply assert representation.

Compare that with the death-certificate list on the same form, which reaches immediate family, a lawyer for the family, and institutions such as a bank, executor, or insurer that need the certificate to pay a policy or death benefit. Wyoming deliberately drew the marriage and divorce list tighter than the death list. Adult children of a marriage, siblings, and later spouses are not on it.

Watch out: This is the practical consequence people run into most. If you are the adult child of a couple who divorced 20 years ago and you need proof of that divorce, Wyoming's list does not include you. Your realistic routes are the Clerk of District Court file, or a request made by one of your parents.

Fees: A Rule Fee Plus a Statutory Surcharge

The Department's current application form, dated 2024, sets out a fee schedule that includes:

• $25.00 for a certified copy of a birth, marriage, divorce, or stillbirth record.
• $25.00 for the first death certificate on a request, and $20.00 for each additional one.
• $30.00 for every five years searched, with that fee covering one certified copy if a record is found.
• $35.00 for a death search per five years searched.
• $30.00 for a photocopy of an original certificate.

That $25.00 sometimes looks like it contradicts the state's own rulebook, because the Wyoming Administrative Rules chapter governing vital-records fees, which took effect in 2018 and remains listed as current, provides that a computer abstract of a birth, stillbirth, marriage, or divorce certificate is $15.00 and a certified copy of the original record is $20.00. It is not a contradiction. The governing statute stacks two separate layers.

W.S. 35-1-428(a) directs the Department of Health to prescribe the base fee for certified copies and searches by rule, which is where the $20.00 comes from. W.S. 35-1-428(b) then adds, on top of whatever the rule charges, "a surcharge of five dollars ($5.00) for each copy of a certificate or record issued pursuant to this article and five dollars ($5.00) for each five (5) year period or portion thereof that a search of files or records is undertaken." That surcharge is not vital-records revenue at all. Since July 1, 2024 it goes entirely to the Wyoming children's trust fund.

So the $20.00 rule fee plus the $5.00 statutory surcharge is the $25.00 the form charges for a marriage or divorce copy. The search fee is built the same way: a rule search fee plus $5.00 for each five-year period or portion of one searched. Death certificates carry a second $5.00 surcharge under subsection (c), which funds the indigent persons burial account.

What to do about it: pay the amount printed on the current application form. It already carries the statutory surcharge, and an underpaid request is returned, which costs more time than anything else in the process. Vital Statistics Services can be reached at (307) 777-7591 if your request involves an unusual number of copies or search years.

The form also explains what you are buying: standard certified copies of Wyoming vital records are computer-generated abstracts, and they are accepted for all legal purposes including motor-vehicle, passport, insurance, and educational uses.

Which Years Wyoming Holds

Wyoming's state-level marriage and divorce records begin in 1941.

Before that, custody is local:

• Marriages before 1941: the county clerk in the county where the marriage license was issued.
• Divorces before 1941, or any divorce file: the Clerk of District Court in the county where the divorce took place.

Because the state's window opened in 1941 and its confidentiality window is 50 years, a growing band of mid-century Wyoming records is now both held by the state and open to the public.

How to Order

Wyoming's process is mail-first and document-heavy.

Send the completed form to Vital Statistics Services, 2300 Capitol Avenue, Cheyenne, WY 82002. Include a signed request, a photocopy of your identification, payment in the correct amount, and a self-addressed stamped envelope.

Payment should be a check or money order payable to Vital Statistics Services. The form requires that a check be bank-personalized and drawn on the account of the person making the request. Cash is accepted but not recommended.

Identification must be a photocopy of a valid government-issued photo ID that includes a permanent signature. Accepted documents include a driver's license, state ID card, passport, passport card, tribal ID, consular card, retired or dependent military ID, a US concealed weapons permit, and a state or federal prison corrections ID. IDs expired less than 60 days are still acceptable, and a notarized signature on the front of the form may take the place of an ID.

What the form asks. Both spouses' full names as they appear on the record, including last names at the time of the event, the date and the city or county of the event, your relationship to the people named, and your purpose for requesting the certificate.

Pro tip: The relationship and purpose lines are not decoration on a Wyoming form. Given how narrow the entitlement list is, they are how the office decides whether to issue at all. Answer them precisely, and if you are a lawyer, attach what demonstrates the requirement rather than waiting to be asked.

Genealogy: The Verification Route

A closed record is not a dead end for family historians.

The form provides that written verifications of a record may be issued for genealogical research where the record requested is closed. To obtain one, you must provide evidence that the individuals listed on the record are deceased, by supplying copies of death certificates, along with documentation showing how you are related to the person on the record, through copies of birth and marriage records.

The form is candid about what you get: verifications are a redacted version of the full record and may not contain all the information available on the original.

The Wyoming State Archives is the other genealogical destination, particularly for older material and for county-level records that predate 1941 state registration. For a marriage from the 1930s, the county clerk and the State Archives are more productive first stops than a state search fee.

Getting the Divorce Decree

The state's divorce certificate reports that a divorce happened. The Clerk of District Court in the county where the divorce took place holds the decree and the full case file, including the property division and any custody or support orders. That is the office to contact when you need the terms rather than proof of the event.

Wyoming's judicial branch runs a statewide public case search covering district, circuit, and supreme court records, which is a reasonable way to confirm the county and case number before you call the clerk. Access to particular documents is still handled at the courthouse.

For the broader framework governing access to government records in the state, see Wyoming public records laws.

Related Wyoming Records

Wyoming does not recognize common-law marriage, so an unlicensed relationship produces no certificate to order; see Wyoming common-law marriage. Death records follow a broader entitlement list than marriage and divorce; see Wyoming death records.

To compare other states, use the marriage and divorce records by state hub, the how to get a copy of your marriage certificate guide, or how to find out if someone is married or divorced.

Disclaimer

This article provides general legal information about Wyoming marriage and divorce records, verified against official sources on 2026-08-04. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. The base fee for a certified copy is set by department rule under W.S. 35-1-428(a) and can change, while the surcharges under W.S. 35-1-428(b) and (c) are set by the legislature; the form's printed total already includes both. For advice about a specific situation, consult a lawyer licensed in Wyoming.

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Last updated: 2026-08-04.