In 2015, a pre-existing law was amended to make it mandatory for family courts to issue a Certificate of Dissolution to be attached to the divorce decree in every case. A certified copy of the Certificate allows a party to certify their divorce, name change, etc. without needing to use the entire decree and without needing to unnecessarily disseminate or reveal the additional personal information in the decree.
The Certificate of Dissolution contains the case caption, file number, names of parties, prior names, name changes (if any) and the divorce date.
The Certificate of Dissolution must be issued by the court either from the court’s directive to a party or attorney to draft the certificate for the court’s review and approval, or from the court’s own preparation and issuance.