Massachusetts Court Records

Divorce in Massachusetts is a Probate and Family Court case, kept at the Registry of Probate of the county division. Unless the case is impounded it is public, and the court lists divorces among publicly available case types. One exception is the Financial Statement that Supplemental Rule 401 requires of each party, on the Short Form CJD 301S or the Long Form CJD 301L: under Rule 401(d) it is impounded, kept separate from the other papers and not available for public inspection. The judgment of divorce, the separation agreement and alimony and property orders are public unless a judge impounds them under the Uniform Rules on Impoundment Procedure, for good cause after a hearing, while QDROs and guardian ad litem reports are impounded by Probate and Family Court Standing Orders 3-08 and 2-08.

masscourts.org, the Trial Court's electronic case access, shows Probate and Family Court dockets and scanned images of publicly available documents, except a list of restricted image types that are still public at the courthouse, where a non-party may ask for the physical file or use a public kiosk. The Massachusetts asset search page explains what the public documents still reveal.

These federal and national sources complement Massachusetts's state-level records. They are the authoritative sources you should cross-check when Massachusetts state records are incomplete or out-of-state activity matters.

PACER, Public Access to Court Electronic Records
The U.S. federal judiciary's unified electronic records system. Every federal district, bankruptcy, and appellate case docket is here.
https://pacer.uscourts.gov/ (pacer.uscourts.gov) U.S. Courts, Federal Court Finder
The official directory of every federal district, bankruptcy, and circuit court. Use it to identify the correct Massachusetts district(s) before searching PACER.
https://www.uscourts.gov/federal-court-finder (uscourts.gov) National Center for State Courts
The NCSC's directory of state court websites, technology standards, and public-access policies.
https://www.ncsc.org/information-and-resources/browse-by-state (ncsc.org)  Frequently Asked Questions Massachusetts Court Records, FAQ  Last reviewed: April 2026  Updated: October 2026