§ 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\ndepartment; duties of county clerks in connection therewith. 1. No\ninterlocutory decree, judgment or order of divorce, annulment, or other\ndissolution of marriage shall hereafter be filed or entered in the\noffice of any county clerk of this state, unless there is submitted\ntherewith, a certificate of dissolution of marriage on a form\nprescribed, printed and furnished by the commissioner. Such form may\ncontain a confidential section for statistical and research purposes.\nSuch section shall not be subject to subpoena or to inspection by\npersons other than the commissioner or authorized personnel of the\ndepartment. The commissioner may, however, pursuant to appropriate rules\nassuring that the identity of individuals will not be revealed, approve\nthe inspection and use of such confidential sections for scientific\npurposes.\n 2. Such certificate shall contain the names and addresses of the\nattorneys for the parties thereto, the names, social security numbers\nand addresses of the parties to the action, and such other information\nas prescribed by the commissioner, including but not limited to such\ninformation as may be requested by the federal agency in charge of vital\nstatistics.\n 3. At such times as the commissioner shall direct, the county clerk of\neach county shall transmit to the department the certificates of\ndissolution of marriage so filed in his office for each case where the\ndecree became final during the previous months. Such certificates of\ndissolution of marriage shall be kept on file and properly indexed by\nthe department.\n 4. A certified copy or certified transcript of such certificate may be\nfurnished to either party to the action by the commissioner. A certified\ncopy or certified transcript of such certificate may be furnished by the\ncommissioner to one other than a party to the action, only upon order of\na judge of a court of record, or a judge of a family court, granted upon\napplication of such other person, with or without notice, upon showing a\nproper or judicial necessity therefor, which order and the papers\naccompanying same shall be filed by the commissioner and given the\nindexed number of the certificate of dissolution to which it relates.\nThe commissioner shall be deemed to have complied with the applicable\nprovisions of this subdivision by the issuance of a certified transcript\nof the desired certificate instead of a certified copy thereof except\nwhere the requester shall show, to the satisfaction of the commissioner\nor his designated representative, a demonstrated need for such certified\ncopy, or where a court order rendered pursuant to the provisions of this\nsubdivision contains an express recital or direction therein that the\nissuance of a certified transcript of such certificate instead of a\ncertified copy thereof shall not be considered to be in compliance\ntherewith.\n 5. Whenever in his opinion, information as to the dissolution of a\nmarriage is required for a legal or other proper purpose, the\ncommissioner may make a search of the files and, if the record of\ndissolution of marriage is found, he may furnish to the applicant, in\nthe form of a certification, the names of the parties to the dissolved\nmarriage, the name of the county and county seat of such county in which\nthe decree dissolving the marriage was granted, and the date the decree\nwas entered.\n 6. The commissioner shall be entitled to a fee of thirty dollars for\neach certification, certified copy or certified transcript of\ncertificate of dissolution of marriage furnished.\n 7. For a search of the files where no such certification, certified\ncopy, or certified transcript is furnished, or for a certification that\na search discloses no record of a dissolution of marriage, the\ncommissioner shall be entitled to a fee of thirty dollars.\n 8. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, the federal\nagency in charge of vital statistics may obtain from the department at a\nfee acceptable to the commissioner, information from certificates of\ndissolution of marriage for use solely as statistical data without the\norder of a justice of the supreme court. For other official purposes,\nsubject to the provisions of subdivision four of this section,\ncertifications, certified copies, or certified transcripts of\ncertificates of dissolution of marriage may be furnished, at a fee\nacceptable to the commissioner upon specific request therefor by a\ndepartment of the state of New York or of the government of the United\nStates.\n