Dade County Dissolution of Marriage Records

Dissolution of marriage records in Dade County are filed and kept by the Superior Court Clerk in Trenton, Georgia. The clerk's office at the Dade County Courthouse is the only place to access local case filings, get certified copies of decrees, and search the county case index. Dade sits at the far northwest corner of Georgia, bordering Tennessee, which makes it part of the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit. This page covers how to find records, how to search online, how the filing process works, what documents are in a case file, and where to get legal help in Dade County.

Dade County Superior Court Clerk

The Superior Court Clerk in Trenton is the official keeper of all dissolution of marriage case records in Dade County. When a petition is filed, the clerk assigns a case number, issues the summons, and receives all documents throughout the proceeding. After the judge signs the final decree, the clerk files it and it becomes a public record. Anyone may ask to view or copy a file as long as it has not been sealed by the court.

The courthouse is on West Crabtree Street in Trenton. Bring a photo ID when you visit. You will also want the full names of both parties so that staff can search the index quickly. There is no online portal for Dade County, so in-person visits and mail requests are the two ways to get records. If you plan to mail a request, call ahead to confirm current copy fees and the address to use for payment.

The clerk can tell you what is in a file and provide certified copies for an official fee. They cannot give legal advice. If you need help understanding the documents or you have questions about your rights, contact the resources listed in the legal help section below.

How to Search Dade County Dissolution Records

Because Dade County does not have its own online case portal, in-person searching at the courthouse is the most direct path. Staff there will look up cases by party name or case number. You can request to view the file and ask for copies of any documents you need. If you cannot travel to Trenton, a written request by mail is possible, though processing times may vary.

Several statewide tools are worth trying before making the drive. Georgia Courts at georgiacourts.gov provides general court access information and links to county-level case systems across the state. PeachCourt at peachcourt.com offers a public civil case search that covers a number of Georgia counties, and it is worth checking to see if Dade County records appear there. Re:SearchGA at researchga.tylerhost.net indexes documents for roughly 25 Georgia counties and may include older Dade County filings.

The GSCCCA portal at gsccca.org is the Georgia Superior Court Clerks Cooperative Authority site. It links to the statewide eCertification system, which lets you request certified copies of recorded documents without going to the courthouse in person. For very old records, the Georgia Archives at georgiaarchives.org may have historical filings. You can reach the archives at (678) 364-3710, Tuesday through Saturday, 9 AM to 4 PM.

The Superior Court Clerks of Georgia directory is a good place to confirm current contact information for the Dade County office. You can find it at gaclerks.org and use the Find My Clerk tool at gaclerks.org/Clerks/FindMyClerk.aspx to locate Dade County clerk details.

The gaclerks.org directory lists contact information for all 159 Georgia counties and is kept reasonably current. It is a good first check if you are not sure which office handles a case.

The Find My Clerk tool lets you search by county to pull up clerk contact information and office details for any county in Georgia, including Dade.

Filing for Dissolution of Marriage in Dade County

To file in Dade County, at least one spouse must have lived in Georgia for at least six continuous months before the petition is submitted. This residency requirement is set by O.C.G.A. § 19-5-2. The petition goes to the Superior Court Clerk at the Dade County Courthouse in Trenton. After you file, you are required to serve the other spouse with the petition and summons according to Georgia rules for service of process.

Once service is confirmed, a 30-day waiting period begins. The court cannot enter a final judgment until that period passes. This is a state rule and applies to every county. In straightforward, agreed cases, things can move quickly after the wait period ends. When there are disputes over property, children, or support, the court must work through those issues before it can finalize the case.

Georgia law under O.C.G.A. § 19-5-3 lists 13 grounds for dissolution. The most common is that the marriage is irretrievably broken, which is a no-fault ground that does not require proof of wrongdoing. Once the judge signs the final decree, the clerk files it and it becomes a public court record. Certified copies can be requested from the clerk at any time after that.

What Dade County Dissolution Records Contain

A dissolution of marriage case file in Dade County is made up of all documents submitted from the time the petition was filed to the time the decree was entered. The final decree is the most important document, but the full file has much more in it. Here is what you typically find in a case file:

• Petition for dissolution of marriage, signed by the filing spouse
• Summons and proof of service on the other spouse
• Any financial disclosures or settlement agreements filed by both parties
• Temporary orders entered during the case, if any
• Court orders on property, child custody, or support, if applicable
• The final decree of dissolution signed by the Superior Court judge
• Any post-decree motions or modification orders filed after the case closed

Not every case has all of these. A simple uncontested case with no children and no shared property will have fewer documents than a contested one. The file is what the clerk will show you when you ask to search records. If the court has sealed any part of the file, those pages will not be available. Most files are open to the public once finalized.

If you only need to confirm that a dissolution happened and you do not need the full file, you can ask the clerk for a case summary or check the statewide eCertification system through GSCCCA. That system will show you whether a certified copy is available without requiring a trip to the courthouse.

State Verification Through Georgia DPH

Georgia's Department of Public Health maintains a statewide index of dissolution of marriage verifications for cases that were finalized between 1952 and 1996. This is a different record from the court file. The DPH record is a short verification that confirms a dissolution occurred and gives basic identifying information. It is not a copy of the actual court decree.

You can contact the DPH Vital Records office at 1680 Phoenix Blvd Suite 100, Atlanta, GA 30349 or call (404) 657-2700. The DPH page for vital records is at dph.georgia.gov/VitalRecords. For cases before 1952 or after 1996, the county Superior Court Clerk is the only official source. DPH does not hold court records and cannot provide certified copies of decrees. If you need the actual decree, you have to go to the Dade County courthouse or request it by mail.

Re:SearchGA indexes case records for participating Georgia counties. Check to see if Dade County records appear in the system, especially for cases filed in the past decade.

Legal Help in Dade County

If you need legal guidance for a dissolution of marriage case in Dade County, several organizations serve Northwest Georgia and may be able to help depending on your income and situation.

Legal Services Georgia at glsp.org provides free civil legal help to low-income Georgians. Georgia Legal Aid at georgialegalaid.org has self-help resources and links to legal aid offices across the state. Both organizations can point you toward the right office for Dade County. The Georgia Bar's lawyer referral service is also an option. You can reach the Georgia Bar at gabar.org or call 1-800-334-6865 to get a referral to a licensed attorney in your area.

The clerk's office staff will help you understand what forms are needed and where to file them. However, they cannot interpret the law or tell you what to do in your case. That is the job of an attorney. If your situation involves children, significant property, or disagreements with the other party, it is worth talking to a lawyer before you file anything.

Cities in Dade County

Dade County is rural and sparsely settled. Trenton is the county seat with a population of roughly 2,200. No city in Dade County meets the 100,000-resident threshold for a separate city records page. For county-level records, contact the Superior Court Clerk in Trenton directly.

Nearby Counties

Dade County borders several Georgia counties in the northwest corner of the state. If a case was filed in a neighboring county, you will need to contact that county's Superior Court Clerk directly.