Finding Divorce Certificates in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland

While the idea of the divorce is certainly not a new concept, divorce records in the UK did not begin to be officially recorded until 1858. In order for person to obtain these older documents, they will first need to request a search from the CIDA, or Central Index of Decrees Absolute from the UK National Archives. You can also find newer divorce certificates in a similar manner. Doing this will require a person to download a form from the Courts Service website and post it to the Principal Registry of the Family Division. Official records previous to 1858 are not available but an individual may be able to find secular documents by doing a search of the British Library. Lastly, your best bet for finding information about a UK divorce certificate may be to try a free search through an online public records database.