Your Divorce Information Is Online
CNN reports that it is easy to get someone else’s social security number and other private information on the Internet. One reason for this is that the courthouse is putting the information online.
Divorce records have always been open for public inspection, but you had to go to the courthouse to look at them. Now you may be able to read your neighbor’s divorce files on your computer from the comfort of your own home. Divorce files may contain financial statements, social security numbers, tax returns, medical reports and other information we usually think of as private.
Now Maryland is providing free access to District and Circuit Courts, except for the Circuit Courts of Montgomery County and Prince George’s County, but these will be online soon.
You can see the names of the parties, lawyers, case number, court, type of case, caption and filing date. Next, the court will be adding an index of all pleadings and orders in the case. Eventually, I expect it will be like the D.C. federal court where you can actually see a copy of the pleadings and orders.
You can ask that the court close the record or protect certain documents in your case, but the court must decide whether to do that in each case. So far in my cases, one judge permitted it and one did not.
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