2013 New York Consolidated Laws
PBH - Public Health
Article 41 - VITAL STATISTICS
Title 3-A - (4139) FILING OF CERTIFICATES OF DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE
4139 - Certificates of dissolution of marriages to be filed with the department; duties of county clerks in connection therewith.

 
    §  4139. Certificates of dissolution of marriages to be filed with the
  department; duties of county  clerks  in  connection  therewith.  1.  No
  interlocutory  decree, judgment or order of divorce, annulment, or other
  dissolution of marriage shall hereafter  be  filed  or  entered  in  the
  office  of  any  county  clerk  of this state, unless there is submitted
  therewith,  a  certificate  of  dissolution  of  marriage  on   a   form
  prescribed,  printed  and  furnished  by the commissioner. Such form may
  contain a confidential section for statistical  and  research  purposes.
  Such  section  shall  not  be  subject  to  subpoena or to inspection by
  persons other than the  commissioner  or  authorized  personnel  of  the
  department. The commissioner may, however, pursuant to appropriate rules
  assuring  that the identity of individuals will not be revealed, approve
  the inspection and use of  such  confidential  sections  for  scientific
  purposes.
    2.  Such  certificate  shall  contain  the  names and addresses of the
  attorneys for the parties thereto, the names,  social  security  numbers
  and  addresses  of the parties to the action, and such other information
  as prescribed by the commissioner, including but  not  limited  to  such
  information as may be requested by the federal agency in charge of vital
  statistics.
    3. At such times as the commissioner shall direct, the county clerk of
  each  county  shall  transmit  to  the  department  the  certificates of
  dissolution of marriage so filed in his office for each case  where  the
  decree  became  final  during  the previous months. Such certificates of
  dissolution of marriage shall be kept on file and  properly  indexed  by
  the department.
    4. A certified copy or certified transcript of such certificate may be
  furnished to either party to the action by the commissioner. A certified
  copy or certified transcript of such certificate may be furnished by the
  commissioner to one other than a party to the action, only upon order of
  a judge of a court of record, or a judge of a family court, granted upon
  application of such other person, with or without notice, upon showing a
  proper  or  judicial  necessity  therefor,  which  order  and the papers
  accompanying same shall be filed  by  the  commissioner  and  given  the
  indexed  number  of  the certificate of dissolution to which it relates.
  The commissioner shall be deemed to have complied  with  the  applicable
  provisions of this subdivision by the issuance of a certified transcript
  of  the  desired  certificate instead of a certified copy thereof except
  where the requester shall show, to the satisfaction of the  commissioner
  or his designated representative, a demonstrated need for such certified
  copy, or where a court order rendered pursuant to the provisions of this
  subdivision  contains  an  express recital or direction therein that the
  issuance of a certified transcript of  such  certificate  instead  of  a
  certified  copy  thereof  shall  not  be  considered to be in compliance
  therewith.
    5. Whenever in his opinion, information as to  the  dissolution  of  a
  marriage   is  required  for  a  legal  or  other  proper  purpose,  the
  commissioner may make a search of  the  files  and,  if  the  record  of
  dissolution  of  marriage  is found, he may furnish to the applicant, in
  the form of a certification, the names of the parties to  the  dissolved
  marriage, the name of the county and county seat of such county in which
  the  decree dissolving the marriage was granted, and the date the decree
  was entered.
    6. The commissioner shall be entitled to a fee of thirty  dollars  for
  each   certification,   certified   copy   or  certified  transcript  of
  certificate of dissolution of marriage furnished.
    7. For a search of the files where no  such  certification,  certified
  copy,  or certified transcript is furnished, or for a certification that

  a  search  discloses  no  record  of  a  dissolution  of  marriage,  the
  commissioner shall be entitled to a fee of thirty dollars.
    8.  Notwithstanding  any other provisions of this section, the federal
  agency in charge of vital statistics may obtain from the department at a
  fee acceptable to the commissioner,  information  from  certificates  of
  dissolution  of  marriage for use solely as statistical data without the
  order of a justice of the supreme court. For  other  official  purposes,
  subject   to  the  provisions  of  subdivision  four  of  this  section,
  certifications,  certified   copies,   or   certified   transcripts   of
  certificates  of  dissolution  of  marriage  may  be furnished, at a fee
  acceptable to the commissioner  upon  specific  request  therefor  by  a
  department  of  the state of New York or of the government of the United
  States.