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Divorce In Tarrant County Texas
Find a Tarrant County divorce decree through the District Clerk’s Family Law office and compare paper, electronic and certified copy charges.
Order the existing decree from the District Clerk
For an existing Tarrant County, Texas divorce, the District Clerk’s Family Law office is the custodian to contact for a decree or other family-case filing. This guide concerns retrieving that record. First establish whether you need the final signed decree, a later order, another filing, or simply confirmation that a divorce was reported to the state. Those products are not interchangeable.
Texas DSHS can issue a divorce-verification letter based on state indexes from 1968 forward. DSHS says that letter is not a certified divorce decree and does not supply the court’s full terms. Certified decrees come from the district clerk where the divorce was granted. If the county or year is uncertain, the state index may supply a lead, but an index result still needs to be followed to the correct court file.
Find the case number or request a targeted search
Contact Family Law records at 817-884-1265 or [email protected]. Include the parties’ names and case number. Without the case number, the Family Law page lists a $5 records-research fee. Add an approximate filing or divorce year if known, identify which names may have changed, and name the specific order you want so staff do not supply only a petition or docket entry.
Tarrant also advertises free self-service document lookup onsite for District Clerk civil, family, and felony files. The Family Law Center lookup location is 200 E. Weatherford Street, Fort Worth, with Monday–Friday hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; its lookup-service phone is 817-884-1114. This is an onsite inspection option, not a promise of free remote certified copies.
Choose paper, electronic, plain, or certified copies
| Copy requested | Published Family Law charge |
|---|---|
| Non-certified paper | $1 per page |
| Non-certified electronic | $1 for the first 1–10 pages, then $0.10 for each page beyond 10 |
| Certified paper | $1 per page plus a $5 certification/seal fee |
| Certified electronic | $1 for the first 1–10 pages, then $0.10 per additional page, plus a $5 certification/seal fee |
For example, under that schedule a 20-page plain paper copy is $20; a 20-page plain electronic copy is $2, and adding one $5 certification charge brings that electronic example to $7. These calculations exclude any applicable $5 case research charge and other quoted delivery costs. Ask for the actual page count and total before paying, especially if requesting several separate documents.
The general Court Document Lookup page has a shorter certified-copy price line that does not describe the $5 seal charge. Use the more specific Family Law schedule for the complete distinction and confirm the order total with staff. Ask the receiving institution whether it accepts electronic certification before choosing a format. Certification of the copy does not decide the legal meaning of the decree.
Arrange delivery and payment with Family Court Records
Requests may be made in person or mailed to Family Court Records, Family Law Center, 200 E. Weatherford, Third Floor, Fort Worth, TX 76196. For a mailed request, the office asks for a stamped self-addressed envelope for certified copies and a valid email address for non-certified copies. It states that personal checks and FedEx shipping are not accepted.
The same schedule now offers certified electronic copies while the mail instructions distinguish certified-envelope and non-certified-email delivery. If you want electronic certification, confirm the delivery arrangement directly rather than assuming the mail instructions cover it. Ask staff which payment methods they accept for your channel; do not send a personal check or assume a scan is automatically certified. No universal fulfillment time is published on the Family Law service page.
Check that the returned record answers the request
Compare the case number, both parties, court, document title, and signature or filing date with the request. A petition asks for relief; it is not proof that a divorce was granted. If the requested purpose depends on a later modification or another order, identify that filing separately instead of assuming that the original decree describes every later development. Request clarification from the clerk about the file, and obtain legal advice for interpretation of rights or obligations.
If the office cannot locate the file, recheck the county where the divorce was granted and the names and dates used. For a wrong or incomplete copy, give the clerk the order reference and describe the missing pages or certification. Do not alter a certified copy. A state verification’s coverage begins in 1968, so an absent earlier state result must be followed up locally rather than treated as proof no divorce occurred.
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