Which court office do I pick up an official final divorce decree

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I have the judgement of divorce nisi and the docket number on this form but I need the official form that says absolute to file some official paperwork.

Attorney Answers

6
Gabriel Cheong ·
Just go to the court where you got your divorce and go to the filing clerk's office. What you probably want is a certified Certificate of Divorce Absolute. It's basically a divorce certificate. $20.
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Marcia Mavrides ·
In addition to my esteemed colleague, Attorney Cheong's suggestion, you may have to wait 90 or 120 days for the absolute- depending if you were divorced under MGL ch. 208 section 1A or 1B. However, a certified document of the divorce can be gotten through the clerk's office.
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Stephen Karpf ·
I agree with my colleagues with one tweak: I believe that you need to go to the central record-holding Probate and Family Courthouse for the county where you were divorced. For example, if you went to Brockton for the certificate of divorce absolute, I am not sure they could give it you. And even if they could, it may depend on whether to somewhat irregular administrative computing system is functioning. So you might have to go to Plymouth. I recommend calling any Courthouse first to be sure they can do this for you.
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Melissa Levinepiro ·
I agree with the previous answers. You just need to go to the probate courthouse that handled your divorce and ask for one. The fee is $20. If you are sending to social security, you should make a copy for your records before you send it to them because they don't always send it back.
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Estela Matta ·
You do understand that Judgement Nisi is an interim judgment. There has NOT been a final judgment of divorce, so cannot "pick up" your final judgment of divorce b/c it has not been entered by the court yet. So check with the clerk of the court as to when you will have to appear for the final order of divorce.
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Helena Friedman ·
I agree with the advice of all of my colleagues. I would add that if you only recently went to court, then you have to wait until after your divorce is final, which is 90 or 120 days after the hearing date. It would be 120 days if you had a 1A divorce, also known as a joint petition, which allows the court an extra 30 days to approve the agreement.
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