Divorce is never simple, regardless of who the spouses are or what issues the divorce entails. However, for couples with significant assets, divorce is far more complicated. Not only do these spouses face the difficulty of the divorce itself, they must consider ways to keep their divorce a private matter. As anyone who’s gone through this type of ordeal before can tell you, high-asset divorces are always at risk of turning into high-profile controversies.
If you hope to keep your privacy intact throughout your high asset divorce, it is important to make this a priority from the start, for both spouses if possible.
You can always gain some professional insight on keeping your divorce private. Even if you’re not ready to file divorce papers, an attorney can help you understand what to expect from the process and help you craft a personalized strategy for keeping your divorce private and civil.
Should you seal court records?
One of the obstacles that many families face when seeking to protect their privacy during divorce is that most courts consider divorces a matter of public record. This means that, if you hope to keep your court proceedings private, you’ll have to request that the court seal the records.
Sealing records is possible, even if it is not always as elegant or effective as one might hope. When sealing records, the scope of the seal must address a specific purpose, such as protecting a minor or proprietary business information.
A person cannot usually request that a court seal all records resulting from the divorce. Instead, the court hears arguments about why it is appropriate to deny public access to certain documents. Usually, the scope of the seal is relatively narrow, but it still may offer specific protections.
Keeping the divorce out of court
Fortunately, there are some other options if sealing divorce records proves too cumbersome for your needs. If you and your spouse agree to divorce mediation, you can negotiate every aspect of your divorce in a private setting.
Not only can mediation help you reach fair agreements over complex issues, mediation sessions are not a matter of public record. This means that the finer points of your divorce might remain out of the court altogether. In some cases, spouses may only appear in court once, or not have to appear at all.
However you choose to pursue divorce, be sure that you have all the legal guidance you need to protect your interests.