There must be occasions when you wonder about people's marital history and wished there was a way you could know instantly. Well, there is and it's called Divorce Records Online. They come in two versions: free and fee-based. Both could work but the question is which one suits your needs better? Time and money, that's basically what's at play between Free Online Divorce Records and paid ones. With a little research, understanding divorce records becomes easy.

Divorce records are one of the principal vital records. The other categories are Marriage, Birth and Death records. Marriage and Divorce Records go hand-in-hand and are often lumped together in a search. They have been around at county level since the nineteenth century although divorce was rare in those days with some states actually banning it. By the late 60's, County Divorce Records began routinely uploading to state repositories and all old county records were filmed also.

On the back of the Freedom of Information Act of 1966, divorce records became public domain, as with all public record categories. What that means is since then, except for records sealed by court orders and those which qualify as private divorce records, public records can be obtained at government departments tasked with the service. The various ways to request them are in-person, telephone, fax, mail and online internet. It must be noted that the use and application of divorce records in certain states may be restrictive although their retrieval process is liberal.

Expectedly, to search divorce records online is the most popular method of obtaining such information. Government agencies provide them free but fees are charged when official copies, divorce certificate, decree and so forth are ordered. These free records are often too skimpy and would not suffice for any real practical purpose beyond casual surfing. On top of it, they are not friendly for multi-state searches as government public record databases are not linked between states.

A small expense of money will take you to the great expanse of paid divorce records. They are the premier league of public records. With them, retrieving the information is fast, accurate and convenient. The records from them are professionally packaged and delivered in plug-and-play form. They also include contents derived from private databases and specialist network. It's a fiercely competitive industry. Log onto any of the major search engines and you'll be spoilt for choice on such outfits.

Ultimately, whether you go with free or paid Online Divorce Records will depend on whether you're up to the task to DIY the free records and the purpose of the search. If there's no need for professional standards and you have the bandwidth and spirit to go it yourself, then why waste hard-earned money? But then again, if leisure is preferred over the savings and your pocket is deep, why not? The important thing is to go in with your eyes open.