I am often asked how someone going through a California divorce can find their divorce case number. While the case number is found on the divorce documents themselves, what if you lost them and need to get a copy. The first thing you will need is your case number.
To keep the California divorce process slightly confidential, California does not have a way you can locate your case number online. But the courts do make available that ability at the courthouse. So while you can’t get that information from your home computer, you can if you go down to the court.
Some of the courthouses have a public access computer for use in the clerks office. If this is available in your court, you are able to search by name. When you do this you will be able to find your and your spouses name and locate your case number.
If the court does not have a public access computer, you can ask for them to look up your case number. They will usually require that you show them identification so they know it is you looking up a case and not trying to get information on someone else.
I have had people call me who had filed for divorce in California many years ago and wanted to see if their case was still open. They now wanted to proceed and thought their case would have been dismissed. It is a good idea to check first. While the rule of thumb is that the court will dismiss cases after 5 years, it does not happen all the time.
If you find that your old case is still open, it is better to continue on with that one as it will save you court fees. If you file a new case, you will have to pay the filing fee again.
