A divorce can be a contentious and unsettling process filled with animosity and venom.  While many divorces proceed amicably with both sides being reasonable and reaching a mutually acceptable resolution, some divorces become genuine “War of the Roses” scenarios.  What many people never consider in such situations is that the nasty and embarrassing revelations in a court file are a matter of public record.  In other words, the dirty laundry that is exposed in pleadings and motions in a divorce as well as detailed and intimate financial information is available for the world to review.

This is an aspect of the divorce process that many people never consider.  The presumption among many divorcing parties is that a divorce record is not available for review by parties that do not have a direct interest in the divorce proceedings.  In reality, a divorce file is a public record that may be available for review by anyone the media, a noisy neighbor, creditors or business competitors.  There are many reasons to be concerned about one’s privacy during a divorce including potential disclosure of information that may be damaging to one’s reputation or employment, disclosure of sensitive financial data and exposure of proprietary business secrets just to offer a few examples.

There are ways to protect your privacy during the divorce process in Florida, and our experienced Florida divorce attorneys work diligently to protect your privacy and safeguard sensitive information during a divorce.  Fla. Const. Art. I, 24 provides in part that every person has the right to inspect or copy any public record made or received in connection with the official business of any public body, officer, or employee of the state, or persons acting on their behalf, except with respect to records exempted pursuant to this section or specifically made confidential by this Constitution.  Fla. Fam. Law R. P. 2.051 governs the sealing of records in Florida family law proceedings.  Under that rule, a court is permitted to seal any court record where, among other things, confidentiality is required to protect trade secrets, to avoid substantial injury to innocent third parties, or to avoid substantial injury to a party by disclosure of matters protected by a common law or privacy right not generally inherent in the specific type of proceeding sought to be closed.

Though the scope of protection provided by this provision is limited, our experienced Florida family law attorneys have used this provision to protect sensitive information.  It is within the discretion of the trial judge to seal financial records in family law proceedings, for example, if the trial judge finds it necessary to do so because it has been shown that third parties are likely to use this information in an abusive manner.  This means that though divorce records like other public records are open to inspection by the public in a Florida divorce, these records can be sealed under certain circumstances.

If you are involved in a Florida divorce and have personal information regarding your high net worth estate or propriety business and financial information that you wish to protect from disclosure, our South Florida family law attorneys at Eric N. Klein & Associates, P.A. can advice you regarding your privacy rights and explore your options for protecting sensitive information so call us today at 954-580-8080 for a free initial case evaluation.