District of Columbia
District of Columbia Marriage & Divorce Records: Court Records Only
The District of Columbia is the most structurally unusual jurisdiction in this cluster. In every state, some health agency stands somewhere in the marriage or divorce chain. In DC it does not. DC Health's Vital Records Division lists birth certificates, death certificates and domestic partnership records, and nothing else. Marriage and divorce are court business from beginning to end.
That single fact resolves most confusion about DC records. If you are looking for a health-department form, you will not find one, because it does not exist.
This page covers records. For residency, grounds, and the process of ending a marriage in DC, see District of Columbia divorce laws. For the national comparison, see the marriage and divorce records hub.
DC marriage records: the Marriage Bureau
The Marriage Bureau, part of the Superior Court's Family Court Operations Division, issues marriage licenses and holds marriage records. It sits in the Moultrie Courthouse at 500 Indiana Avenue NW, Room JM-690, and is open on weekdays.
To order a certified copy you complete the Marriage Bureau's request form, which the court publishes online, and submit it by mail or in person. The Bureau's fee schedule, from its own order form, is:
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Regular certified copy (Motor Vehicles, Social Security and Divorce) | $10.00 each |
| Immigration and Naturalization copy | $10.00 each |
| No-record-found search letter | $20.00, additional copies $10.00 |
| Triple seals | $20.00 each |
Figures are as of August 2026 from the DC Courts order form. A few points about this schedule are worth pulling out.
The no-record-found search letter costs more than a certificate. At $20.00 it is twice the price of the record itself, which is unusual, but it exists because agencies sometimes need documented proof that no DC marriage is on file.
Triple seals are the exemplified version that some foreign governments and federal agencies require for use abroad. Check with the receiving agency before paying for them, since most domestic uses do not need one.
We did not find a restrictive eligibility clause on the Marriage Bureau's order form. It sets out the request fields and the fee schedule rather than a class of eligible requesters. That is not the same as confirming DC marriage records are open to anyone, so if your connection to the record is remote, call the Bureau at the number it publishes rather than assuming.
DC divorce records: no certificate, only the case
There is no DC divorce certificate. Since DC Health plays no part in either record type, and DC Superior Court does not issue a vital-record-style divorce document, the only thing that exists is the court record: the case file and the decree entered in it.
The Superior Court's Family Court Operations Division handles divorce. The court's divorce page covers filing a new case, including the residency requirement that one spouse must have lived in the District for six months before filing, but it is a filing-process page rather than a records-request page and it does not name a custodian or fee for copies of an existing decree.
Here is the honest position on ordering one. DC Courts publishes no dedicated page for obtaining a copy of a divorce decree. We searched for one and confirmed it is genuinely absent rather than merely hard to find. What the District does publish is the Marriage Bureau order form line quoted above, which prices a "Regular Certified Copy (Motor Vehicles, Social Security & Divorce)" at $10.00 each. That is the mechanism named on an official DC Courts document for obtaining a certified copy connected to a DC divorce: the same Marriage Bureau channel and the same $10.00 fee.
Before mailing anything for a divorce copy, call the Family Court at the number DC Courts publishes and confirm that your request goes through that form. A jurisdiction that has not published a dedicated process is a jurisdiction where a phone call saves a wasted trip.
What is public, and what is not
DC divorce files are Superior Court records, and access to them runs through court rules rather than a vital-records access statute. As in any court, individual cases and individual documents can be sealed by order, and family cases often contain financial and child-related material subject to restriction.
We did not locate a DC Code provision creating a confidential-marriage program, a time embargo on marriage or divorce records, or a categorical sealing regime for either. That absence is a limit of what the District publishes, not a positive finding that no rule exists. If a clerk restricts a specific file, ask which order governs it.
For the general request framework and the route to court and agency records, see District of Columbia public records laws.
Historical DC marriages and divorces
Current records and historical records run through completely separate offices.
The DC Office of Public Records and Archives, a division of the Office of the Secretary, holds District of Columbia Historic Marriages covering 1811 to 1924 and a separate Marriage Indexes collection covering 1870 to 1924. Both are listed as collections on the DC Archives site, which is where research requests start. This is a genuinely different custody chain from the Marriage Bureau's current holdings.
For divorces from the era before the Superior Court's modern jurisdiction, the picture is murkier. Federal courts held divorce jurisdiction in the District before the court reorganization of the early 1970s, and an index for the earlier period is reported to sit with the Clerk of the US District Court for the District of Columbia. We could not confirm that on a primary source, so treat it as a lead to follow with the National Archives and the federal court clerk rather than a verified custody statement.
The District recognizes common-law marriage, which is directly relevant to records work: a common-law marriage produces no license and no certificate, so there is nothing at the Marriage Bureau to order. See District of Columbia common-law marriage for how those marriages are established and proved instead.
Related DC pages
See District of Columbia death records, which does run through DC Health, for the contrast. For the cross-jurisdiction process guides, see how to get a copy of your marriage certificate and how to find out if someone is married or divorced.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does DC Health issue marriage or divorce certificates?
No. The DC Health Vital Records Division handles birth certificates, death certificates and domestic partnership records only. Marriage and divorce run entirely through the DC Superior Court, with historical marriages held separately by the DC Office of Public Records and Archives.
How much does a DC marriage certificate copy cost?
$10.00 for a regular certified copy as of August 2026, per the Marriage Bureau's own order form. Triple seals cost $20.00 each, and a no-record-found search letter costs $20.00 with additional copies at $10.00. Note that the search letter costs more than the certificate itself.
Is there a DC divorce certificate?
No. The District creates no vital-record-style divorce document. A DC divorce exists only as a Superior Court case file and the decree entered in it, so proof of a DC divorce means a certified copy of a court document rather than a certificate.
How do I order a copy of a DC divorce decree?
DC Courts publishes no dedicated page for this, which is a genuine gap in the District's published information. The Marriage Bureau's order form prices a regular certified copy at $10.00 and expressly covers copies for Motor Vehicles, Social Security and Divorce, so that is the mechanism named on an official document. Call the Family Court to confirm before mailing a request.
Where is the DC Marriage Bureau?
In the Moultrie Courthouse at 500 Indiana Avenue NW, Room JM-690, Washington DC 20001, within the Superior Court's Family Court Operations Division. It is open on weekdays, and DC Courts publishes its phone number and email address for records questions.
Are DC divorce records public?
They are Superior Court records, so access runs through court rules rather than a vital-records statute. Case files are generally accessible, but individual cases and documents can be sealed by order, and family matters often contain financial and child-related material subject to restriction. Ask the clerk which order applies if access is refused.
Where are historical DC marriage records?
With the DC Office of Public Records and Archives, which holds District of Columbia Historic Marriages for 1811 to 1924 and a Marriage Indexes collection for 1870 to 1924. That is a separate custody chain from the Marriage Bureau's current records, and both collections are reached through the DC Archives site rather than the court.
What about a DC divorce from before the 1970s?
Federal courts held divorce jurisdiction in the District before the court reorganization of the early 1970s, and an index for that period is reported to sit with the Clerk of the US District Court for the District of Columbia. We could not confirm that custody on a primary source, so treat it as a lead to pursue with the federal court clerk and the National Archives.
Updates
Independently fact-checked against the cited primary sources
Sources and References
- DC Courts, Order a Certified Copy of a Marriage Record (Marriage Bureau fee schedule)(dccourts.gov).gov
- DC Courts, Superior Court Family Court Operations Division, Divorce(dccourts.gov).gov
- DC Health, Vital Records Division(dchealth.dc.gov).gov
- DC Office of Public Records and Archives, District of Columbia Archives collections (Historic Marriages 1811-1924)(archives.dc.gov).gov