Are marriage/divorce public records?

[BBSlm]

Pierce county, WA

Are divorce and marriage records public? how could i go about getting them? I do searches and return mostly sites that charge and say they have them, is this a reliable source for records?

 

[Ohiogal]

Pierce county, WA

Are divorce and marriage records public? how could i go about getting them? I do searches and return mostly sites that charge and say they have them, is this a reliable source for records?

You contact the county where the divorce and/or marriage took place. The county has records showing who took out marriage licenses (newspapers in that county also print the information) and also divorces. Now if you are talking custody or property settlements, you may or may not be able to get them.