Over the past few years, the divorce rate in the United States had increased. What was once a bond between two people founded upon love, trust, and commitment could turn into a relationship based upon distrust, conflicting views, and sometimes even outright hatred which could lead to domestic violence. About three out of every five marriages in the United States are fated to end in divorce, but just because a person had experienced the oftentimes long and arduous process of obtaining a legal decree dissolving his or her marriage does not mean that they are fated to never know the happiness of marriage once again.

People once divorced do get married again, though often, it is with a different person. There are, however, several requisites in order to get married, and foremost of this is that one of the parties to the marriage must have the capacity to marry. A person already married has no capacity to marry owing to the existence of the marriage, and just because a couple had separated, amicably or otherwise, does not mean that both parties regained their capacity to marry.

Just as marriage is a legal proceeding that requires formalities, so is a divorce, and the proceedings pertaining to the divorce as well as other pertinent information, such as the name of the parties, the reasons for the dissolution of the marriage, and history of domestic violence, if any, are recorded in a Divorce Record. The relevant government agencies keep a record of divorce as they are mandated to do so by law, and for other practical reasons, such as when a formerly divorced party wishes to marry again and their would-be spouse would want to confirm the dissolution of their former marriage.

Tyler County was founded in the year 1846, and their district clerk has divorce records under their custody dating back to the year 1968. Under the Texas Public Information Act, all public documents, including divorce records, are presumed to be available to the public, subject to certain exemptions.

A person who wishes to confirm the existence of a divorce may request for verification of the same divorce through the Texas Department of State Health Services. Although unable to provide a certified copy of any divorce proceedings, the Department of State Health Services could confirm whether or not a divorce record exists. The process of acquiring this verification begins by sending a request for verification to the department either through the internet with the use of a credit card, or through the mail by filling out a form available from the website of the Texas Department of State Health Services. This request costs twenty dollars and may take anywhere between ten to fifteen days to complete.

The Texas Department of State Health Services, however, could not provide certified copies of divorce records. These certified copies may only be acquired from the district clerk of the counties where the divorce was granted. Under the Texas Public Information Act, certified copies may be obtained by requesting for the same through a written request coursed through the relevant government offices, which, in the case of divorce records, is the district clerk. The more information about the divorce that could be provided, the easier it would be for the clerk to locate the records that are being sought. It is also important to note that any fees that may be charged by the district clerk must be settled within ten days after the written request was sent, otherwise, the request would be deemed to have been automatically withdrawn.

A third option available to searchers would be to resort to technology and the use of specialized online databases. The World Wide Web is full of specialized online databases dedicated not only to divorce recordings but also to other matters. The use of online databases is easier and less time consuming than the two earlier processes, and as an added bonus, such searches are often free of charge, instantaneous, and does not require the person doing the search to leave the comforts of his or her own home.