A divorce is an extremely personal matter, and the proceedings following it contain extremely personal information. This information may be as important as social security numbers and birth dates to the residential locations of your children. Such private information should be kept private. However, with the evolution of the internet many are able to search your name in court records and reveal some portions of your divorce proceedings. In order to maintain privacy during this personal time, discuss with your Florida Divorce Attorney the actions you can take to keep your divorce and personal information confidential.
In every divorce, parties are required to present to the court with initial pleadings, this involves the petition for divorce and answer by the responding party. These initial pleadings will also include information such as a copy of each parties’ driver’s license or passport to satisfy the legal residency requirements. Further, the court requires the social security numbers of each spouse, as well as the minor children of the parties subject to the action. These items are of great value and shall be kept confidential in proceedings. Therefore, with these filings, your Florida Divorce Attorney will also file a Notice of Confidential Information. This filing places the clerk of court on notice that these documents contain sensitive information that should be redacted and restricted to certain parties. This Notice will direct the clerk to the specific information that is confidential, or if the entire document shall be deemed confidential. The clerk will treat these documents as confidential until ruling by the court deeming them otherwise.
After initial pleadings, you will exchange discovery. Within discovery, you will find a great deal of sensitive information, as you will have to provide tax returns, bank account statements, credit card statements, loan documents, and many other private details requested by the parties. Although these documents are only exchanged between the parties and not filed with the court, it is important to still keep your information confidential. Therefore, your Florida Divorce Attorney and their team will filter through these documents personally to redact any personal information such as bank account numbers or social security numbers, before sending them to the opposing party.
Finally, in the conclusion of your case, you may file a Marital Settlement Agreement with the court. Within this agreement, you may mention of some of the items disclosed in the exchange of mandatory discovery or even new information that you may have settled on with your partner. This information may include bank account numbers, retirement accounts, alimony support awards, or child custody arrangements; all of this information you may wish to remove from public record. This information may also fall under the confidentiality statutes and your Florida Divorce Attorney will seek, through a Notice of Confidential Information, to redact this information to retain some privacy for you during these times.
Your privacy is important, and it should be protected during your divorce proceedings. Ensure you are being protected properly by employing a knowledgeable and experienced Florida Divorce Attorney. We are familiar with Notices of Confidential information and will seek to protect such valuable information and your family for you.
Speaking to an attorney at our Florida office is free of charge, and we accept calls 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Contact us at 850-307-5221 or complete an online contact form to get in touch with a member of our team today.