Vermont, U.S., Divorce Index, 1925-2003

This database contains an index, created by the Vermont Vital Records Office, to approximately 89,000 divorces occurring in the state of Vermont from 1985-2003. For all years, the following information is available:

• Divorce


• Husband's name


• Wife's name

For records from the years 1989-2001, the following information is also included:

• County of decree


• Husband's and wife's states of birth


• Husband's and wife's ages at time of divorce

Locating Originals

Vital records after 1982 are found at the Vital Records Office, 108 Cherry Street, P.O. Box 70, Burlington, Vermont, 05841. Files are open to the public but accessed by a clerk. The cost, either in person or by mail, is presently $5 per event.

At the Public Records Division, a separate statewide microfilm index to divorce decrees covers 1861-1968. The decree books themselves are also microfilmed and available there. Summary divorce papers from 1968-1979 are arranged alphabetically by surname in one group at the division.

Taken from Bartley, Scott A. and Alice Eichholz, "Vermont," in Ancestry's Red Book, ed. Alice Eichholz. (Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1992).

About Divorce Records

Divorce is a court action recorded in court records: dockets that list plaintiff and defendant and the specific term or day of the court; minute books, which record court judgments and case descriptions (often in terse legal language); and case files, which provide affidavits, lists of children with their ages, property inventories, and other data. The date and place of marriage, ages or dates of birth of the couple, places of birth, and the grounds for divorce are usually included. In addition, the children may be in the custody of grandparents, uncles, or close family friends.

Taken from Johni Cerny and Sandra H. Luebking, "Research in Marriage and Divorce Records," The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy, ed. Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking (Salt Lake City: Ancestry Incorporated, 1997).