Explore Free Lake County Divorce Records: Look Up Dissolutions

Find free Lake County divorce records to remarry, change names, or just to research more about someone.

Citizens can retrieve and access their dissolution records under Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act and the broader federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Interested parties may seek these divorce records from county custodians and state agencies. In many cases, these records can be viewed at no cost; however, some minimal charges may apply for certification and document reproduction.

This streamlined article helps citizens maneuver official public channels to quickly and seamlessly find divorce records in Lake County, Indiana.

How To View Free Lake County Divorce Records

The primary repository for divorce records in Lake County is their Clerk of Court.¹ Lake County’s Clerk of Court offers the public access to divorce records due to the Indiana Access to Public Records Act – with the exception of sealed records.

This county agency permits requestors to view and acquire divorce records online, by mail, and by in-person requests.

Citizens can conveniently find divorce records online using the Indiana Judicial Branch Odyssey Case Management System. Users can also find dissolution records by utilizing the free Lake County Case Search Tool.²

This lookup tool allows citizens to find non-confidential cases by case, name, or attorney. Select “Lake County” from the Court drop-down menu to locate dissolution records and limit the search to “Family.”

Divorce records will show information such as the party names, court, case type (dissolution with or without children), date filed, status and attorneys. Only parties to the case (divorced couples) can have access to documents pertaining to the dissolution.

Citizens may obtain divorce records in person or by mail through written requests. These requests may be made by contacting the Lake County Clerk of Court at the address below; inquire with the clerk about the costs to procure these documents.

Lake County Clerk of Court
2293 North Main Street
Crown Point, Indiana 46307

Record seekers may contact the clerk electronically or by calling 219.755.3461 if they have further questions.

Searching for public divorce records in the county has advantages for the requestor since it is an encompassing query that covers all the cities and towns within Lake County. However, in certain states, it is possible in some scenarios to find divorce from local jurisdictions such as city municipalities.

However, this doesn’t apply to Indiana. Cities in Lake County do not process divorce record requests; rather, this function is reserved for county agencies.

For example, the Office of the Gary City Clerk processes civil court cases, but these are separate from dissolution records.³ Citizens can request public records from the city, but only those that relate to the city.

Subsequently, residents of cities must turn to the county clerk or state agencies to retrieve divorce records.

How To Look Up Divorce Records Throughout the Entire State via the Indiana Judicial Branch

It is not uncommon for the search of divorce records to exceed county lines; in cases like this, interested parties will need to contact the Indiana Judicial Branch to view documents online.⁴

In many other states, the health department would be an alternate point of contact to find divorce records. However, the Indiana Department of Health does not allow citizens to request copies of divorce certificates; this task is left to the Clerk of Courts, as seen earlier.

Therefore, the only way to view divorce records at the state level is by using the Odyssey Case Management System furnished by the Indiana Judicial Branch. Users can search for court cases from all counties in Indiana for free. From these records, they may view dissolution documents.

Interested parties will need to select the county which issued the dissolution decree. They will then need to limit their search to “Family” cases. Requestors can then seek divorce records using the case, party name and attorney.

Sometimes, patrons may need to search for older divorce records, particularly for genealogy purposes. In this case, they can contact the Indiana State Library.

This public agency maintains a divorce index of dissolutions in the state that the public can access for free; select “Divorce” from the Record Type drop-down menu.⁵ Moreover, the Indiana Archives & Records Administration advises that the Clerks of the Court have divorce records that date back to 1852 up to the present.

Are Details of Divorce Accessible to Everyone in Lake County Indiana?

In Indiana, divorce records are mostly available to the public due to the Indiana Access to Public Records Act.⁶ This means that citizens can, for the most part, view anyone’s divorce records via the Odyssey Case Management System supplied by the Indiana Judicial Branch.

Nevertheless, only parties of the record and immediate family members have unrestricted access or can request certified and non-certified copies of divorce decrees from the Clerk of Courts.

Both certified and non-certified copies of divorce records may be sought from the Lake County Clerk of Court. Certified copies are official documents with the court’s seal proving authenticity and are thus legal documents; subsequently, they can be used for official purposes such as identification.

On the other hand, non-certified copies of dissolution records are not official and lack the court’s seal. These will be used for personal reasons such as genealogy research.

As a note, there is a marked difference between dissolution decrees and certificates. The former are signed and issued by a judge after a couple files for separation by submitting divorce papers.

Conversely, dissolution certificates are a record of the decree and proof that the courts recorded a vital event and finalized the annulment. Certificates are also less detailed than decrees, providing only basic information about the divorce.

Lastly, common law marriages have been banned in Indiana since 1958.⁷ Therefore, couples united in this way cannot seek separation in Indiana courts; consequently, common law divorce records are non-existent.

In their quest for divorce records, citizens can turn to third-party vendors who will search through official channels on their behalf. When the county of record is unknown, this can present many advantages to the searcher as it takes the hassle out of digging for this information. If official public agencies do not authorize these vendors, patrons cannot use documents they acquire for official purposes.

Someone may need to find Lake County divorce records for personal or professional reasons; this resource provides helpful information to citizens to find the records they need at the state and county levels.