California Divorce Documents-How Much Of My Private Life Will Become Public Record?

With all the celebrity divorces in the news lately and all
the dirty details of their private lives being dragged out
on their front lawns for everyone to see, it leaves one
wondering, is anyone entitled to any privacy when it comes
to a divorce?  Many people come to our office knowing that
their divorce will be less than amicable. They know their
soon-to-be-ex will most likely be dishing out the dirt
(whether true or not) of their relationship and they worry
that private information will be made public through court
documents. They want to know if ALL of the divorce
documents will be made public, and if there is any way they
can get divorce records sealed.

In California, all divorce and family law documents and
proceedings are accessible to the public.  However, there
are a number of provisions within the California Family
Code that authorize a court to close proceedings or seal
certain documents. Below are a listing and summary of
applicable sections.

.     Section 1818 - Privacy of hearings; conferences;
confidential nature of communications; closed files;
inspection of papers: This section in general allows all
hearings, conferences and court documents to be sealed and
they may only opened to inspection by written authority
from a family court judge.

.     Section 2024.6 - Authorizing a trial court to seal
pleadings that contain financial information: This section
deals with sealing documents which contain information
regarding the parties' assets and liabilities including the
location and identifying information about the assets and
liabilities.

.     Section 3025.5- Psychological evaluations of
children; confidentiality; exceptions: This section allows
the court to seal documents relating to psychological
evaluations of children, and recommendations regarding
custody or visitation.

.     Section 3041.5- Controlled substances or alcohol
abuse testing of parent seeking custody or visitation;
grounds for testing; confidentiality of results; penalties
for unauthorized disclosure: This section provides for
confidentiality of results of drug and/or alcohol testing
of a parent seeking custody or visitation.

.     Section 3177 - Confidentiality of proceedings: This
section relates to confidentiality of mediation proceedings.

.     Section 3552 - State and federal income tax returns;
submission to court; examination and discovery: This
section allows the court to seal tax returns if they are
retained by the court due to their relevancy to the case.

.     Section 7613- Natural father of child conceived by
artificial insemination; conditions: This section allows
the court to provide confidentiality to a man who donates
his semen for use in artificial insemination of a woman who
is not his wife.

.     Sections 7643 - Hearing or trial in closed court;
papers and records; inspection: This section allows the
court to conduct a proceeding without the admittance of any
person other than those necessary to the action or
proceeding.

.     Section 7884- Admission to proceedings: This section
allows the court to deny the public access to a hearing in
which termination of parental rights are being considered.

.     Section 9200- Inspection of documents; authorization;
fee; deletion of identification of birth parents;
certificate of adoption: This section allows the court to
provide confidentiality to the birth parents in the case of
an adoption.

It is important to understand that having records sealed is
not necessarily automatic, as there is a competing public
right to have access to court records and proceedings.
Nevertheless, it never hurts to ask!


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Donald P. Schweitzer, Law Offices of Donald P. Schweitzer,
201 South Lake Avenue, Suite 700, Pasadena, California
91101, (626) 683-8113
http://www.PasadenaDivorce.com
Mr. Schweitzer is a attorney specializing in divorce
litigation. He is a former police officer, and Deputy
District Attorney.