If you want to divorce without obtaining a marriage certificate, it depends on the time when both parties meet the substantive conditions for marriage.
1. Before the implementation of the Marriage Registration Management Regulations by the Ministry of Civil Affairs on February 1, 1994, if both parties met the substantive conditions for marriage but did not obtain a marriage certificate, the marriage relationship was protected by law and handled according to factual marriage. Divorce had to be carried out through litigation;
2. After the promulgation and implementation of the "Marriage Registration Management Regulations" by the Ministry of Civil Affairs on February 1, 1994, if both parties meet the substantive conditions for marriage but have not obtained a marriage certificate, do not have a legal marriage relationship, and there is no divorce issue, the people's court should inform both parties to apply for marriage registration before accepting the case, or they can break up or terminate their cohabitation relationship on their own.
How to get divorced if your marriage certificate is lost
1. Agreed divorce
If the marriage certificate is lost and both parties want to divorce, they need to go to the marriage registration department to apply for a new marriage certificate, and then negotiate divorce with the civil affairs department to obtain a divorce certificate.
2. Lawsuit for divorce
If the plaintiff loses their marriage certificate, they can retrieve their marriage file from the original civil affairs bureau and issue their own marriage registration certificate. Then bring your personal identification, marriage certificate, evidence of emotional breakdown, and lawsuit to the court for filing.