How Can You Seal Public Divorce Records in Florida?

As you may know, divorce records – like any other court records – are available to the public in Florida. Anyone who wants to obtain your divorce records will be able to request them from the court clerk in the county where you divorced.

But can you seal your divorce records in the state of Florida if you do not want other people to access records of your divorce? Although divorce records are public information, there are things you can do to make public records hidden or inaccessible to others.

How to Seal Divorce Records in Florida?

If your divorce records contain sensitive information that could harm you, your spouse, or your children, it is important to get those records sealed. However, sealing divorce records is a complicated process because the party requesting to seal the records will have to demonstrate evidence that making the information available to the general population would be harmful.

The most common reasons a party might want to seal their divorce records include:

• One of the parties is a politician or is involved in politics
• One of the parties is a celebrity
• One of the parties is a high-profile member of their community
• Divorce records detail incidents of domestic violence or child abuse
• One of the parties is struggling with an addiction or mental illness
• One or both spouses or their children could be harmed if other people had access to divorce records
• Public exposure could financially harm one or both spouses

If you wish to file a motion to seal divorce records, it is advised to seek legal counsel. You need an experienced family lawyer on your side to collect sufficient evidence to prove that you or your children would be harmed if the records were made public.

How to Redact Sensitive Information in Your Divorce Records?

Some sensitive information contained in divorce records, including financial information, is automatically redacted to protect the parties. In addition, a judge is likely to agree to remove the following types of confidential information from divorce records:

• Social security numbers
• Bank accounts
• Credit card numbers
• Business information
• Financial records
• Children’s names and birth dates
• Identities of domestic violence victims

Depending on your case, it may be possible to redact other sensitive information in your divorce records if your motion to seal was dismissed.

If your divorce records remain public after the dismissal of your motion to seal, an experienced lawyer will help you submit a request to redact certain sensitive information in the records.

When certain information is redacted in divorce records, the information deemed confidential or sensitive is removed while all other information is left untouched. Thus, even if the judge agreed to edit confidential information in your divorce records, the public will still be able to access your divorce records.

If you are trying to seal your divorce records or get sensitive information removed from your records, it is important to seek legal counsel from an experienced family lawyer in Florida. Speak with our Orlando divorce attorney at Greater Orlando Family Law to help you prepare and file a motion to seal divorce records. Call at 407-377-6399 to discuss your case.