Genealogy Chat

Could anyone advise how to find divorce records

I know my mum and her first husband divorced sometime during WW2.
Her divorce papers were left with a solicitor during the 1970s whose name I do not know and who I think may have ceased to exist.

None of my family are alive so I have no one to ask about it

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Unfortunately not many divorce records from that time survive.

Info here:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/divorces/

(That's for England & Wales)


For Scotland:

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

Not relevant to your search - but for general info -
Scottish divorces 1984 - 2016 are listed on Scotlands People website, and copies of the certificates (not the whole divorce record) can be bought through that site, for £12.

According to the National Archives:-

The survival rate of divorce case files is:

1858-1927: almost 100%
1928-1937: 80%
After 1937: less than 0.2%

As you can see very few from the war period survive. Are you absolutely sure they actually did divorce as in those days it was very expensive and very difficult for ordinary working class people to get a divorce and many just separated and went on to live as "man and wife" with another partner.

If you are sure they DID divorce then you could try any local solicitors near to where they lived at the time. If the solicitor who had the papers went out of business another firm would have been appointed to keep their papers.

You can contact the court where the divorce took place.

If you don’t know which court to ask, but have a rough idea of when the divorce took place then you can ask the Central Family Court to search for the decree absolute or final order. This will cost £65 for each 10 year period that’s searched.

Kath. x

Thank you ArgyllGran. I had a feeling not many would have survived, just my luck

Hi Kathleen.

Yes she told me she had lodged them with a solicitor in Lancashire. I know the area so I think I'll do a google search see if any come up in the right road.

Her divorce took place down south and both her ex and her remarried after the war.

Thank you for kicking my brain into gear both of you