Divorce/Custody Records from the 1970s?
March 8, 2013 2:27 PM Subscribe
Can you advise me how to go about getting the files for a particular divorce and attendant custody battle in CT in the 1970s?
My parents divorced in CT in the late 1970s and I am told their custody battle was one of the first instances of the father getting full custody of children in a divorce.
I was very young and have vague memories of a lot of courtroom drama, however neither parent will discuss any of the details of their divorce. I'd like to get any records I can of the custody proceedings and discover why my father was granted custody.
I've visited the State of CT Judicial Branch page but I'm not sure what should be publicly available or how to go about requesting the information. The site doesn't offer much in the way of information. I don't want the divorce decree (that I've found through Ancestry.com) but rather the full court records. I'm hoping a lawyer or reporter or someone with experience in such matters can shed some light.
My parents divorced in CT in the late 1970s and I am told their custody battle was one of the first instances of the father getting full custody of children in a divorce.
I was very young and have vague memories of a lot of courtroom drama, however neither parent will discuss any of the details of their divorce. I'd like to get any records I can of the custody proceedings and discover why my father was granted custody.
I've visited the State of CT Judicial Branch page but I'm not sure what should be publicly available or how to go about requesting the information. The site doesn't offer much in the way of information. I don't want the divorce decree (that I've found through Ancestry.com) but rather the full court records. I'm hoping a lawyer or reporter or someone with experience in such matters can shed some light.
Best answer: As someone who has studied the Freedom of Information Act, I was really curious about how divorce records might be protected by privacy laws. I have no idea how accurate this website is but a little googling brought this up:
The Records Project
The part that seems to be most pertinent to your questions is this-
The information is in the public domain, and so anyone can access it. However, The Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) passed in 1966 safeguards divorce records, along with other vital records in both the County and State level. The State also recognizes the privacy of the divorced. So, though the details regarding the divorce are available, but the information you can get is restricted. You cannot learn about the personal details such as the reasons for seeking divorce, the way the asset and liabilities were distributed, alimony amount, information about child custody and such others.
If this website is accurate, I think it is highly unlikely the full court records would be released to you. The other problem is that the court records are only kept on site for 15 years. After that time period they would usually either be sent to the state archives or to some other offsite storage. So, even if they could release the records to you, they will take time (and probably money) to track down and have them sent to you.
posted by jezemars at 4:28 PM on March 8, 2013 [1 favorite]
The Records Project
The part that seems to be most pertinent to your questions is this-
The information is in the public domain, and so anyone can access it. However, The Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) passed in 1966 safeguards divorce records, along with other vital records in both the County and State level. The State also recognizes the privacy of the divorced. So, though the details regarding the divorce are available, but the information you can get is restricted. You cannot learn about the personal details such as the reasons for seeking divorce, the way the asset and liabilities were distributed, alimony amount, information about child custody and such others.
If this website is accurate, I think it is highly unlikely the full court records would be released to you. The other problem is that the court records are only kept on site for 15 years. After that time period they would usually either be sent to the state archives or to some other offsite storage. So, even if they could release the records to you, they will take time (and probably money) to track down and have them sent to you.
posted by jezemars at 4:28 PM on March 8, 2013 [1 favorite]
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posted by Postroad at 2:31 PM on March 8, 2013