How do I go about researching an old legal case?

Question

I would like to look at my parents' divorce case from 1988. Can I just walk into the courthouse and ask for it? I'm also interested in where I can get statistics on the early Paternal custody successes. I know my father was one of the first in a geographic sense but it isn't something I can ask him. (not sure if it was our county, our half of the state, our state, etc.) I am proud of the fact that he raised me and want to know more.

Answer 1

Court cases that are only 20 years old will probably still be kept by the court and in the courthouse where the case was heard. After a certain term, say 25 to 40 years (it differs from state to state), many older court records are usually sent to some sort of central State Archives. That's not the case in all states.

As such, you need to know where the divorce was made. It would have been in a county court. Sometimes family court records are sealed (meaning they are not readily open to the public), and this is sometimes only for a specified time, but they should be available to the family members who were involved, so you should not have a problem accessing them.

If you know in what county your parents were divorced, yes, you can just walk into the courthouse and ask for the divorce and court record. If you know the names of the people involved and the year it happened, they should be able to find it easily. You should call first and ask who to talk to, and when would be a good time to go there. They might be able to look it up while you are on the phone and give you a case number and what court it was heard in.

Also, there may be two different places where you might find records of the proceedings. First, as mentioned above, the clerk of the court should have a case file, which will include each time the case came to the court, who was present, what pleas and motions were made by each side, and what decisions were made along with the judge's final decree.

The second record I would look for, which would give you far more details, is the court recorder or reporter record. This will basically be a transcript of everything that was said in the court room during the case, unless the judge ordered something stricken from the record (usually a bad question or a statement to which one side objected). Depending how things are organized (it differs from county to county and state to state), these records may be in a different place entirely, like in a seperate office of court recorders/reporters. If a different reporter/recorder was on duty each time the case went to court, the records might be scattered in different recorders' files. I know in California that it may be organized that way.

YOU NEED TO: Call the courthouse. Tell them the type and date of the court case you want to find. They will direct you to the right office. Ask the Clerk of the Court to see if she can look up the case number for you. Ask when and where you can go ask for the record in person. Ask where the court transcripts are kept and who to contact there. In talking to a court reporter/recorder, you'll need to know the case number, which court and judge, and the dates of each appearence, and may have to obtain transcript records for each date seperately... but that would be worth it if those are the details you really want to know. I wish you well in your fact finding mission!

Answer 2

You may not be able to get it. I suggest you call the court clerk, where the divorce was decided, and ask how you go about getting a copy of the judgment. If you know the date that the divorce was handed down, that will help immensely.