*COMPLETED* Is it possible to get a copy of a Divorce Decree (Scotland)

[Rosinish]

I have just discovered the entry in National Records of Scotland for my parents divorce (I didn't know when it was granted) until now although I'd never really given it much thought until today.

Both my parents are long gone & wonder if I can get a copy of the Divorce Decree & how to go about it?

Annie

[ScouseBoy]

Not sure about the system in Scotland.  but for England and Wales  the principal registry is at High Holborn in London.

So   I suggest that you search for a Scotland registry of Divorce records.   Probably in Edinburgh?

[dowdstree]

Hi Annie,

Not exactly sure what it is called in Scotland possibly Decree Absolute.

Were your parents divorced prior to 1984? If so it will be recorded in the Register of Corrected Entries.
You may be able to get a copy of the full proceedings but I think it would cost a lot of money.

My father was married in 1940 and divorced the lady in 1945. Recently his marriage certificate and the RCE have been made available online at Scotlands People (after the 75 years restriction was up).

Hope this helps.

Dorrie

[dawnsh]

There's more information here

http://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/guides/divorce-records

[Forfarian]

If you found the record in the catalogue of the National Records of Scotland, then the documents are held in the National Records of Scotland.

If you want to see the documents, there are three possibilities.

You can go yourself to the Historical Search Room of the National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh. If you do this you will need to get in touch before you arrive, and arrange for the documents to be there for you, because they are not actually kept in Register House and have to be ordered and brought in there for you. You will also need to arrange a reader's ticket before you are allowed to see anything. See http://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/visit-us/historical-search-room.

You can get someone else to go on your behalf. Either a kind soul who would be willing to order the documents and get permission to photograph them, or you could hire a professional searcher to do so. See http://www.asgra.co.uk/members.php.

Lastly, you can contact the National Records and arrange for them to copy the documents and send them to you. Charges apply for this, but you can ask in advance for a quotation for the cost. Use the contact form at http://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/about-us/contact-form

[Rosinish]

Thanks for replies all.

Not sure about the system in Scotland.  but for England and Wales  the principal registry is at High Holborn in London.

So   I suggest that you search for a Scotland registry of Divorce records.   Probably in Edinburgh?

Scouseboy,

As per my Subject heading I did specify Scotland as I know the laws are different in Scotland. In my original post I did say I found it in the National Records of Scotland .

Dowdstree,

My parents were divorced prior to 1984.

Not sure what it was called then but it would probably depend on the type of divorce?
A recent divorce paper I have seen is "Simplified Divorce" & the paper work has "Extract Decree of Divorce"

Danwnsh

I had read the page you gave me the link to but as their divorce was pre 1984 I wasn't understanding what the procedure would be as some of my siblings were under the age of 16 so I'm still unsure of what I'm reading  , however...........

Forfarian,

Thanks for your link & I will send an email with my enquiry as I was looking for something specific regarding divorce & hadn't realised I could send a general enquiry so with your help on that I can proceed.

Annie

[Flickgirl]

Hi Rosinish,

You may have found this out yourself by now if you sent in a request for the divorce records to the NRS but I just wanted to make people aware that divorce records in Scotland are now restricted for 100 years.  This change took place in October last year.  You can read more about it here:

http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/scottish-court-service-explains-divorce.html

The NRS is yet to fully update their system so you will often find the catalogue states a record is open access when that is no longer the case.  Also it is not just divorce records that have been affected by the restriction - I recently wanted to see an affiliation and aliment case that took place in 1916 so I ordered it up but was subsequently told I could not access it as it's still not 100 years since the case.  It will not become available until January 2017.  It doesn't matter if you can prove the people involved are all deceased either; the restriction is a blanket 100 years.

Here is a statement from the NRS sent out to explain the restriction and it details all of the records affected:

The National Records of Scotland (NRS) retain the historically significant records of the Sheriff Courts on behalf of the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service (SCTS). Some of these records are closed to public access because of their nature and content, specifically the criminal and family records of the Sheriff Courts which are closed for 100 years.
The restricted records include:
• Criminal libels and indictments
• Records of criminal jury trials
•   Juvenile court records
•   High court circuit trial appearing before the sheriff court
•   Divorces
•   Family actions relating to children, e.g. separation; affiliation; paternity aliment; custody & access

These records contain sensitive personal data, as defined by the Data Protection Act 1998, the disclosure of which is likely to cause substantial damage or distress to the subject of the data. The information contained in these records, which was often not produced in open court, can also include pre-sentence reports, social work background reports and other highly sensitive information. This information relates to both the subject of the prosecution, witnesses, and victims of crime. For these reasons, SCTS have withdrawn these records from public access for a period of 100 years.

The closures are understandable but disappointing from a genealogical standpoint; there are things I wish I'd got around to looking up before and won't be able to now.

Michelle

[carolineasb]

I'm actually amazed that it appears that NRS were allowing people to see the actual case papers for Divorce cases which may or may not contain many intricate details of the parties involved! However, it still looks like the bare bones of what is included in the Extract Decree of Divorce will still be given minus details of children etc and quite rightly so.

[Rosinish]

Glad I asked the question as there is a lot of useful info. from you all which will also help others....thank you 

Annie