There are many reasons why a marriage ends in a divorce. The bond that is the foundation of marriage, one founded upon love, trust, commitment, and mutual respect between the two parties is not always as strong as the parties to the marriage would like. With the correct set of circumstances, even the strongest bond would fail and a fairy tale marriage could end in a proceeding that is often long and arduous, filled with bitterness and lost ‘what-ifs’. Not all reconciliations end well, and for many, the divorce proceeding is the only way that they could remove the baggage of a marriage that no longer walks so that they may continue to live their life free from the shackles of a bond that has now become a burden.

Just because a person had been divorced once, however, does not necessarily mean that he or she is fated to live the rest of his or her life alone. It is possible for a divorced person to another person that he or she may fall in love with, and in the long run, may end in another marriage. Although married once before, a person has the capacity to marry once his or her divorce had been finalized.

Divorce records are kept not only for this reason but also because it is mandated by law and for other practical purposes. A person who seeks to tie the knot with a formerly divorced person would be well advised to ensure that his or her would-be partner had indeed undergone the requisite divorce proceeding so that their former marriage would be dissolved. In addition, these divorce records provide an effective and efficient means for not only the would-be party to the marriage to check that the requisite substantive and procedural due process required by the law had been complied with.

In the year 1858, Blanco County was founded, and from the year 1876, their district clerk had been keeping records of divorces granted in the county. As a state in Texas, the search for public documents in Blanco County falls under the purview of the Texas Public Information Act. Under this statute, all public documents are considered to be available to the public, with some exceptions.

The same statute provides for the procedure on how to obtain certified copies of divorce records. It is important to note that only the district clerk of the county where the divorce was granted could provide certified copies, not the state government. Under the Texas Public Information Act, a person who desires to obtain a certified copy of a divorce record should first write the necessary request and send it to the office that has custody of the records. In the case of divorce records, this office is the Office of the District Clerk. The more information that could be provided regarding the divorce, the faster and easier it would be for the district clerk to find the records that are being sought. It is also important to note that any fees that must be paid should be complied with within ten days of the written demand for payment being sent, otherwise, the request would be considered to have been automatically withdrawn.

In the state of Texas, while the state government could not provide certified copies of divorce records, the Texas Department of State Health Services could provide verifications as to the existence of a divorce record. The procedure to obtain such verification starts with an online request with the use of a credit card or through filled form sent to the Department. The form is available, free to download, from the website of the Department of State Health Services. The verification costs twenty dollars and may take anywhere between ten to fifteen days to complete.
A third option to determine whether or not a divorce exists is to take the search for the records online. The World Wide Web has several free specialized online search databases that are easy to use. These databases are often free to use and instantaneous in their results. As an added bonus, any person doing their search using these databases are often not limited to divorce records alone, in addition to the fact that they need not leave the comforts of their own home to conduct the search.