How to Get a Copy of a Divorce Online in New Jersey

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Certified divorce documents are often needed for various financial transactions and other legal matters. The New Jersey State Court System maintains an extensive website that provides general information, legal forms, a list of all the local county courthouses, and a public search engine. Divorce cases are kept by the county in which they were filed and classified active or closed. Older closed files are eventually archived and those files are moved from the local county courthouses to the Superior Court Clerk’s Office and stored in a central warehouse. To order the document you need, you must locate your case, determine whether it is active, closed or archived, and order the documents.

Find the docket number of the divorce case, which is located on the top of the first page of any paperwork filed in the case. If you don’t know the docket number of your case, you can still locate the paperwork if you know the names of the parties, the county in which the divorce was filed and the approximate year of the divorce. Search the public access case search on the New Jersey Courts website to find the case and docket number. You may also call the New Jersey Superior Court Clerk's Office Customer Service Unit at (609) 421-6100 for assistance with finding the docket number. Customer Service will also determine whether the file is active, closed or archived.

Determine whether you need a certified copy of the Judgment of Divorce or just a Certificate of Divorce. The Superior Court Clerk’s Office can prepare a Certificate of Divorce with the following information: the county of the divorce, the case docket number, the names of the parties and date of the Final Judgment of Divorce. If you only need a Certificate of Divorce, contact the Superior Court Clerk’s Office by phone or e-mail at [email protected] to order the certificate.

Print and complete the Records Request Form provided on the New Jersey Courts website.

Order a copy of an active or closed file by contacting the local county courthouse in the county the divorce was filed. The local county courthouse will provide an email address or fax number so that you may submit the Records Request Form. They will prepare a certified copy of the file for a fee.

Order a copy of an archived file by emailing the Records Request Form the Superior Court Clerk’s Office at [email protected]. The Clerk’s Office will prepare a certified copy of the file for a fee.