Are divorces public record?
Dear Mrs Macaulay,
I was wondering if you might be able to assist me. I was under the impression that divorce records were public record, but I am unable to find a record of my husband’s divorce online via the Registry.
He did produce documentation that was sent to Canada from Jamaica, but I am doubting their authenticity for many reasons and would like to know for certain if he is in fact divorced from his first wife, or if the papers have been forged.
I am not surprised that you could not obtain the records of your husband’s divorce online from the Supreme Court of Judicature of Jamaica. They are not processes for public consumption. I am sure that you can understand why this is the case. If it was your divorce petition and it was being processed by a judge of the Supreme Court, and you would have, as is required by the law and rules, stated as concisely as possible the facts of your marriage and the conduct of the respondent which caused the breakdown of your marriage, these would be private matters that you would not wish any Tom, Dick or Harry or Mary, Jane or Joan to just go online and obtain copies of.
There are no public reports of divorce cases because of the issue of privacy of familial and marital matters.
How then can you obtain information or copies of your husband’s divorce proceedings from the Supreme Court Registry? Well, you must decide how substantial your doubts are about the authenticity of the documents he showed to you, which were reportedly sent to him in Canada from Jamaica. If you have really strong doubts about them, then you will have to first obtain the services of an attorney-at-law to go to the Supreme Court Registry and to do a search and apply for copies of the documents, if they are found, and send them to you. You should send copies or a copy of the document which was reportedly sent to your husband in Canada, on which would be the number and full names of the parties in the proceedings.
As I said, if documents are found in the records of the court and copies are obtained and sent to you, you can then compare those from the lawyer with those produced by your husband and determine whether they are the same. If they are, then your mind will be set at rest, even though you have not stated why you have your doubts. If they do not, then you will have decisions to make about what action you ought to take, and you can obtain advice from the lawyer who you retained about what you can or ought to do about the matter, which would involve questions of nullity of the marriage, and whether your consent to marry was obtained by fraud, bigamy, deceit, forgery or such matters, which I need not go into as you have not alluded to any of these in your request.
I believe that I have proffered a viable suggestion to you but if you do not wish to use the services of a lawyer, then, if you do travel to Jamaica, you can go yourself to the Supreme Court Registry and do a search and obtain copies if documents are found in his name, and which match the claim number on the document he produced and showed you.
I however, am of the view that the most direct and less troublesome means is that a lawyer is retained to act for you and obtain the copies which you can, after your receipt, compare yourself and satisfy yourself about their authenticity or their falsity and then act accordingly.
I wish you all the best, and peace of mind.
Margarette May Macaulay is an attorney-at-law, Supreme Court mediator, notary public, and women’s and children’s rights advocate. Send questions via e-mail to allwoman@jamaicaobserver.com; or write to All Woman, 40-42 1/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5. All responses are published. Mrs Macaulay cannot provide personal responses.
DISCLAIMER:
The contents of this article are for informational purposes only, and must not be relied upon as an alternative to legal advice from your own attorney.
