Background: The data on this site were collected by The Lewin Group as part of a project for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families and Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation that explored options for collecting marriage and divorce statistics information at the national, state and local levels. One key project task involved development and administration of a survey of state-level vital registrars to learn about the information contained in state vital registration systems. The surveys were fielded between November 2005 and July 2006.

The state survey covered the following topics:

• State requirements for collecting and reporting marriage and divorce information;
• Methods used by states to collect marriage and divorce information;
• State-level storage and maintenance of marriage and divorce information;
• Uses and availability of state-level marriage and divorce information; and
• Challenges and costs associated with collecting, maintaining and reporting marriage and divorce information.

The survey was administered to 50 states, the District of Columbia and New York City. Forty-nine states completed the survey. Louisiana was the exception; state staff were unable to participate due to hurricane-related priorities. The District of Columbia did not complete the survey.

Caveat: The majority of respondents completed the survey in its entirety. However, in some instances, respondents were unable to answer specific questions. Additionally, not all questions were applicable to all states. Thus, some areas in the state profiles are marked "Missing".

Moreover, the nature of information collected by states changes over time. It is possible that since the survey was administered, states have changed what local areas are required to collect, how they collect it, what is reported to the state and what is stored at the state level. The information provided on this website was current at the time the survey was administered. Each state profile includes a link to the relevant state website where interested data users can find current information about marriage and divorce data collection at the state level.

Process for Collecting Marriage and Divorce Information and Glossary of Terms: Millions of marriages and divorces are recorded in the United States each year. Each is associated with a vital record. Citizens, governmental agencies, and other entities use these records, or certified copies of them, for a number of purposes. They are used by individuals to define legal status and associated benefits (e.g., access to private health insurance of a spouse). They are used by the government to determine eligibility for programs and payment amounts. These records also capture the number of marriages and divorces in a given year and can be used to calculate marriage and divorce rates by state. Researchers and policy makers can use this information to calculate national marriage and divorce rates.

State laws govern the collection and storage of vital records. Because states are responsible for the development and financing of their vital statistics systems, they have wide latitude in terms of what they collect, how they collect it, and how they store it.

Data collection begins at the local level. The systems for collecting marriage data are different and separate from those for collecting divorce data. County or city clerk’s offices maintain a record for every marriage. Divorces are recorded in the courts where they are granted (e.g., family court, district court, circuit court, superior court).

The basic marriage-related forms are:

• A marriage license application
• A marriage license
• A marriage certificate
• A combined form that serves as both a license and a certificate
• Another type of form specific to a state or county

The key divorce-related forms are:

• A divorce certificate. This is a form that an attorney fills out on behalf of the petitioner, the clerk completes when the divorce is granted and sends to the state office of vital statistics.
• A divorce decree. This is the file that contains the details of divorce (e.g., division of assets, custody of children). Parts of this file might be summarized and reported to a state-level office.
• Another type of form specific to a state or court.

The content of marriage and divorce forms - that is, the information captured about the individuals involved in the event - is determined by each state.

Data transmission. In most states, some data are transmitted to a state-level office, such as the Department of Health. Some states may require city/county clerks and courts to transmit simple counts of marriages and divorces, while other may require local areas to report all of the information collected on the key forms. The method of transmission also varies by state, and can differ within a state. Some states have a paper-based system for collecting information from local areas - that is, they collect copies or originals of key forms. Others collect information from marriage and divorce documents electronically from courts and local offices where events are recorded.

Data storage. States differ in terms of how data reported from local areas is stored and maintained at the state level. Some states store paper copies of key forms. Some maintain electronic databases that contain all or a subset of information from the key forms. Some maintain only counts of marriage and divorce events.

Data availability. States differ in terms of what information is available to a requestor other than the individual involved in the event.

Individual-level data includes information about the individuals involved in an event. For example, access to copies of marriage licenses or divorce decrees would include person-level information such as date of birth and address. Depending on the state, some information from these records may be redacted (e.g., Social Security Number).

Aggregate data is high-level data that summarizes individual-level data. These data do not include any personal identifiers (e.g., date of birth). Examples include number of marriages by county and number of divorcing couples with children under age 18.