How to Get a Divorce Record from Brooklyn

Getting a divorce record from Brooklyn is a little bit like a Choose Your Own Adventure game, where they payoff at the end is… a divorce (record). It’s not a bad payoff, actually—historical divorce records are super interesting. (“Sexy,” says the New York Post, though I wouldn’t go that far).

If you’re looking to get a record of your own divorce (called a divorce decree), or you’re trying to get a copy of your ancestors’ divorce file, you’ve come to the right place.

A few housekeeping items before we begin:

Are you allowed to get a copy of the file?

In New York State, divorce records are sealed for 100 years. Let me repeat that:

Divorce records are sealed for ONE HUNDRED YEARS.

If you’re looking for records related to your own divorce, or if you’re picking up someone else’s divorce decree, you’re fine—you’re allowed to get those. You can jump down to Step 1.

But if you’re looking for your parent’s, grandparent’s, sibling’s, aunt’s, uncle’s, cousins’s, or really unpleasant coworker’s divorce record, you’re (probably) out of luck, unless they got divorced 100 years ago.

“But wait!” you say. “All of the parties are dead!” Doesn’t matter. It also doesn’t matter if:

  • “They didn’t have kids who might be affected by the contents of the file!” Doesn’t matter.

  • “I’m writing a book about an historical figure, and I could really use their divorce file!” Doesn’t matter.

  • “It’s been 90 years already! Do I really have to wait ten more?” Yup. Welcome to the State of New York.

Now, technically, you can petition the court to have a divorce unsealed if it is less than 100 years old. However, New York courts are historically very conservative on this front, and unsealing basically never happens unless it’s for some urgent purpose. Biographers, for example, have been unsuccessful in unsealing the divorce records of the subjects of their books because the court views these requests as voyeuristic fishing expeditions. (Not my words, just passing the information along.)

If you’re not sure when the parties divorced, but you’re reasonably sure that it was close to one hundred years ago, you can jump to Step 1.

If, say, you think your great-grandpa was divorced when he met your great-grandma, but you’re not positive and you want to find out if there is a specific divorce on file in Brooklyn, you can also jump to Step 1. Full disclosure, there are frequently other, simpler ways to find out if your ancestor got divorced than to visit every county courthouse and look. If that sounds like something you’re interested in, I might be able to help.

Step 1. Prepare to go

What do I need?

Here’s a checklist of the things you’ll need at the courthouse:

  1. The names of the people who got divorced, particularly who filed for divorce. If this is your own divorce, this part should be easy! If you’re looking for a 100-year-old divorce, the process will be easiest if you know the name of the filing party (which was not always the husband!) and approximately when the couple filed for divorce, give or take a couple of years.

  2. If you’re picking up a recent divorce record, you’ll need a valid photo ID.

  3. If you’re picking up a recent divorce record, you’ll need $8.00 in cash, money order, certified check, or a New York State attorney’s check. (Not a personal check!)

  4. If you’re picking up a recent divorce record on behalf of someone else, you’ll need all of the above items, plus an affidavit or notarized letter from one of the parties to the divorce giving you permission to pick up the divorce on their behalf. The letter doesn’t have to be fancy and can be a Word document like this:

    1. “I, [person who got divorced in Brooklyn], grant permission to [the picker-upper] of [the picker-upper’s address on their photo ID], to obtain a divorce decree on my behalf.” Be sure to include details like the names of the parties and the date of the divorce as well. The letter should be signed, dated, and notarized. Easy!

How long is this going to take?

If you’re picking up a recent divorce decree, I’d recommend setting aside at least an hour, just to be safe. It may take significantly less time, depending on how busy the office is.

If you’re ordering a 100-year-old+ divorce file, you’ll need to make two trips: one half-hour trip to place the order, and a second trip to view the file. Expect to wait a couple of weeks between trips.

Step 2. Go to 360 Adams Street

Getting There

To get your divorce record, visit 360 Adams Street in Brooklyn. It’s accessible via many subway lines, with the closest being Borough Hall (2, 3, 4, 5), Jay Street-Metro Tech (A, C, F), and Court Street (R). There is also a Citi Bike station right there.

I recommend entering on the south side of the building. That’ll put you closest to the various record rooms. The south entrance is closest to the Borough Hall 4/5 subway entrance. As of this writing (December 2019), there is a green sidewalk shed (scaffolding) over the entrance, shown below.

Map of the Borough Hall area. The subway stations are shown with yellow boxes around them, and there is an arrow/star pointing to/over the south entrance to 360 Adams Street.

Map of the Borough Hall area. The subway stations are shown with yellow boxes around them, and there is an arrow/star pointing to/over the south entrance to 360 Adams Street.

Google Street View shot of the south entrance to 360 Adams Street. There are some pretty buildings in this area, but 360 Adams Street is one of the big, hulking, Brutalist ones.

Google Street View shot of the south entrance to 360 Adams Street. There are some pretty buildings in this area, but 360 Adams Street is one of the big, hulking, Brutalist ones.

After You Arrive

Once you get through security:

  1. Go straight ahead into the blue room ahead of you. (Fortunately, it’s basically the only direction you can walk in.)

  2. Turn right and left through the (open) double doors and head towards

  3. Window number 9, which is actually a counter. The window numbers are up near the ceiling, which makes them easy to spot and hard to get lost.

You’ll notice as you wander through the Blue Room that there are signs on every vertical surface that say NO PICTURES and NO CELL PHONES. Please be a good neighbor and respect those signs. (They are the reasons why I don’t have any pictures of the building interior in this article.)

Now the adventure begins! Choose your destination: Step 3A if you’re getting a recent divorce record, or scroll down to Step 3B if you’re getting a 100-year-old+ divorce record.

Step 3A. If you’re getting a recent divorce record

Get in line at Window 9 (it’s not really a window, just a counter). There are a couple of computers at that desk, where you can look up the index number for your divorce. There is someone at the counter who can walk you through the process.

  • If you’re getting a copy of your own divorce decree, remember that you’ll need your photo ID and $8.00 in cash, money order, certified check, or New York State attorney’s check. As I said before, they do not accept personal checks or credit cards.

  • If you’re picking up a copy of someone else’s recent divorce decree on their behalf, you’ll need the above two items, plus an affidavit or notarized letter from one of the people who got divorced, granting you permission to pick up their divorce decree.

You’ll hand over your documents and payment to the clerk at Window 9, and they’ll get you sorted. The folks at Window 9 are really nice, by the way, and are happy to help if you have questions.

Now, jump to the end! (Er, scroll all the way down.)

Step 3B. If you’re getting an old divorce record

Find the Index Entry

Between Window 9 (which is a counter) and the actual windows (to the outside world), there are rows of tables with computers. Head over to one of those.

  1. In Windows Explorer, navigate to the folder for Matrimonial Actions, which includes divorces.

  2. Remember how you needed the name of the person who filed for divorce? Navigate to the folder that corresponds to the first letter of their last name and the year that the divorce was filed. So, for example, if you’re looking for a divorce filed by Martha Clark in 1910, you’ll want to check out the folder for letter “C” divorces and open the file for divorces between 1848 and 1940-something.

  3. The file will show you the index of folks who filed for divorce and whose names begin with the letter you selected. The entries are in chronological order by the filing date. So, if you know your ancestor’s divorce was finalized on 1 October 1910, you’ll want to look at entries before that date.

    1. How long did divorce proceedings take? Honestly, it varied. Way back when, there were open divorce trials. Spectators—unrelated members of the public!—would watch divorce proceedings like sporting events… or reality television.

    2. Fortunately for you, the searcher, there weren’t a ton of divorces 100+ years ago, so it won’t take long to check 1-2 years’ worth of index entries. If your ancestor had an unusual name, the process will go more quickly.

  4. Write down:

    1. The names of the parties. (If you found several possible files that might correspond to your person, write them all down)

    2. The volume and page number,

    3. The index number (usually a 4- or 5-digit number in the far right column), and

    4. The filing date.

Now it’s time to go… down.

Step 4. File your record request

Once you’ve written down the index entry for the old divorce file(s), head back through the Blue Room to the entrance. Take the elevator down to level “C”.

Welcome to the Records Room!

Turn right (in fairness, that’s the only direction you can go) and say hello to the friendly folks at the counter.

Fill out a request slip on the pad on the counter with the information that you got from upstairs (the parties’ names, the volume and page, etc). On the section of the form that asks for your contact information, be sure to use a phone number that you actually answer/check the messages. The Records Room folks will use this phone number to reach you to when your file is ready.

The old divorce records are kept at a storage facility in New Jersey. The good folks from the Records Room will send your request over there, and they’ll pull the file(s) for you. Then, they’ll give you a call when everything is ready. As I said before, it can take a couple of weeks for the file(s) to arrive.

Step 5. You’re done!

Congratulations! You just won… a divorce (record)!

I hope this post has been helpful. If you live far away from New York City or you’re unable to visit the courthouse yourself, you can hire me to get a divorce record for you. You can also buy me a coffee to say thanks for this post.

repositories, how toMeryl Schumackerhow to, repositories, brooklynComment