California Divorce Records

According to section 17212 of the Family Code, the Legislature intends to protect California divorce records and individual rights of privacy, and to facilitate and enhance the effectiveness of the child and spousal support enforcement program, by ensuring the confidentiality of support enforcement and child abduction records, and to encourage the full and frank disclosure of information relevant to all of the following:

• The establishment or maintenance of parent and child relationships and support obligations that may appear in California divorce records.
• The enforcement of the child support liability under of absent parents that may appear in California divorce records.
• The enforcement of spousal support liability of the spouse or former spouse to the extent required by the state plan under Section 17604 and Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 4900) of Part 5 of Division 9 of the Family Code that may appear in California divorce records.
• The location of absent parents that may appear in California divorce records.
• The location of parents and children abducted, concealed, or detained by them, that may appear in California divorce records.

California Divorce Records - Access

Section 17212 further provides California divorce records in section (b) which provides: (1) Except as provided in subdivision (c), all files, applications, papers, documents, and other California divorce records established or maintained by any public entity pursuant to the administration and implementation of the child and spousal support enforcement program established pursuant to Part D (commencing with Section 651) of Subchapter IV of Chapter 7 of Title 42 of the United States Code and this division, shall be confidential, and shall not be open to examination or released for disclosure for any purpose not directly connected with the administration of the child and spousal support enforcement program. No public entity shall disclose any California divorce records, file, application, paper, document, or record, or the information contained therein, except as expressly authorized by this section. (2) In no case shall information contained within California divorce records be released or the whereabouts of one party or the child disclosed to another party, or to the attorney of any other party, if a protective order has been issued by a court or administrative agency with respect to the party, a good cause claim under Section 11477.04 of the Welfare and Institutions Code has been approved or is pending, or the public agency responsible for establishing paternity or enforcing support has reason to believe that the release of the information may result in physical or emotional harm to the party or the child. When a local child support agency is prohibited from releasing information pursuant to this subdivision, the information shall be omitted from any pleading or document to be submitted to California divorce records and this subdivision shall be cited in the pleading or other document as the authority for the omission. The information contained within California divorce records subject to this section shall be released only upon an order of the court pursuant to paragraph (6) of subdivision (c). (3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a proof of service filed in California divorce records by the local child support agency shall not disclose the address where service of process was accomplished. Instead, the local child support agency shall keep the address in its own records. Such proof of service in California divorce records shall specify that the address is on record at the local child support agency and that the address may be released only upon an order from the court pursuant to paragraph (6) of subdivision (c). The local child support agency shall, upon request by a party served, release to that person the address where service was effected.

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