How to Locate Divorce Papers in New Mexico

In New Mexico, all court documents filed in the state since 1997 are only available in digital form.

Divorce lawsuits are considered open records and anyone can access them, absent a court order to the contrary. The procedures for researching court documents will vary in each state and many still require a rudimentary, hands-on record search. However, in 1997, the state of New Mexico implemented a statewide document automation system in which all court documents filed would be maintained in a state-wide digital database. Divorce lawsuits are filed in the Domestic Relations Office of the state district courts in New Mexico.

Instructions

1. Visit the New Mexico Case Look-Up system website (see References) to search for divorce papers filed in the state. This state-run database houses all district court documents filed since 1997 in digital form and it is searchable by party name or case number. To successfully search the database you must have both the first and last names of one of the litigants in the case. However, if you only have a first initial and a last name, that is enough information to attempt a search. Enter the names, last name first with no separating comma, into the search form of the database. If you have the case number, click on the tab to search by that information and enter it in the appropriate place on the search form. Once you find the case information you are looking for, you can print out the case history from the website.

2. Request physical copies of older divorce documents, filed before 1997, at the Domestic Relations Office in the local district court office. Each county clerk's office will have its own procedure for conducting searches of older divorce files that are housed in the courthouse archives. Typically, you will either have to fill out a form and wait briefly for the clerks to locate the file or follow instructions to search a localized, county-specific database for information in the case.

3. Order any copies of divorce papers in older files from the court office at the Domestic Relations Office at the county courthouse. Copies are available in the New Mexico district courts Domestic Relations Offices throughout the state for a small fee.

Tips & Warnings

• The New Mexico Case Look-Up system is updated daily by every court in the state. It may take up to 48 hours for new case information to be available to the public on the system.

References

• New Mexico Courts Information Center: Case Look-Up Link
• New Mexico Courts: Second Judicial District FAQs
• New Mexico Courts: Web Links to All NM District Courts