Idaho Divorce Index - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Idaho

What is in the Collection?
The collection consists of an index to divorces created by the Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics; covering divorces filed between May 1, 1947 and December 31, 1961.

Collection Content
Divorces before the twentieth century were uncommon and in some places illegal. Records of divorces contain data on family members, their marital history, their property, residences, and dates of other important events such as the children's births.

Some of the earliest divorces were granted by state legislatures and may be listed in legislature records. County officials began keeping divorce records as soon as a court was established in the area. Early divorce actions are found in dockets, minutes, and case files of the county, circuit, or district court. In some areas of the United States, divorces have been under the jurisdiction of a chancery, common pleas, domestic, probate, superior, or supreme judicial court.

Divorce records are often open to the public and can be obtained by contacting the clerk of the court. You will also find clues to separations and divorces in local newspapers.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
Information found in this collection may include:


 * Names of husband and wife
 * Date of divorce
 * Divorce place
 * Certificate number

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:


 * The names of your ancestors who divorced.
 * The date of the divorce.
 * The place where the divorce occurred.
 * The names of any children mentioned in the divorce decree.

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page: Fill in the requested information on the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the individuals in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to find your ancestor. Keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names, or variations of their name, throughout their life.
 * If your ancestor used an alias or a nickname, be sure to check for those alternate names.
 * Even though these indexes are very accurate they may still contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article [FamilySearch Tips and Tricks].

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor in the divorce index, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. Download a copy of the record, or extract the genealogical information needed. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details. Add this new information to your records of each family. The information may also lead you to other records about your ancestors.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the information from the divorce index to locate the actual divorce record.
 * Use the information from the divorce index to help locate the family in census records.
 * Use the information from the divorce index to search for the family in additional state and county records.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking for, What Now?

 * Check for variant spellings of the surnames.
 * Check for another index. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records.
 * Search the records of nearby counties.

Citing This Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image. Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):