(0:00 – 0:16)
Hi everyone, I’m Dr. Michael Mantell, privileged to be joining Bonnie Rabinovitch-Mantel, owner and managing partner of the Primus Family Law Group. Hi Bonnie. Hi Michael, how are you doing today? I am doing well, I’m doing well.

(0:16 – 0:46)
Interesting question that has come up, as they always do. And this question is about the confidentiality of divorce proceedings in the state of California. The question that was posed is from someone who’s 19 years old and she wanted to look back at her parents’ divorce that took place years ago and she wanted to know if she has access to it.

(0:47 – 1:02)
There’s only one person I know who knows the answer to that question, Bonnie Rabinovitch-Mantel of the Primus Family Law Group. Bonnie, tell us about this. Well, good, bad or indifferent, our proceedings in family court are public.

(1:02 – 1:31)
So for example, if I had a court hearing tomorrow, Michael, you could log on and listen as an observer, regardless of the stuff that may be heard in these hearings. So your 19 year old friend or person who had that question, yep, if you’ve got the case number or even your parents’ names, you can find the documents. Everything is online and you can order all the pleadings.

(1:31 – 2:10)
So I understand freedom of information, Michael, but I don’t think it’s important for any child to see what mom and dad had to say about each other in order to make a judge side with them. Because sometimes attorneys let people and people without attorneys that don’t know that these are public documents, Michael. Anybody can go in and get a copy and see that you accuse mom of being an alcoholic or cheating with your best friend or all the stuff that can go ahead and ruin people’s opinions of their parents.

(2:10 – 2:35)
Is there an age issue? Like can a child who’s like younger than, whatever, a teenager go on and look at this stuff? No, you have to be an adult. In order to be able to get copies, you have to be at least 18 to go into the courthouse and get copies or to get them online. And that’s why we are very, very careful at Primus, Michael.

(2:35 – 3:17)
We tell our clients, be careful what you put in a writing, be careful what you’re willing to say about your child’s parents, because someday they may wanna find out exactly what A thought about B. Now this just came up, but what about like a potential employer? Can someone outside of the family go back and this person’s applying for a job in my company as a major player and I wanna know a little bit about them. Can I look at their divorce records? Absolutely, and what’s interesting about those divorce pleadings, it doesn’t have to be fact. Yes, our declarations are signed under penalty of perjury, but you and I both know that people will lie in those documents.

(3:17 – 3:33)
So that can have a very difficult process for somebody who’s getting stuck being accused. The big ones are, he’s a drug addict, she’s an alcoholic. Those are big ones in family court.

(3:33 – 3:51)
And often it’s not true. You can drink to excess, but not be a drunk. You can have a drink and not be an alcoholic, but you’d be surprised what people have no problem making allegations because they think it’s not going anywhere.

(3:51 – 3:58)
And of course the other one is physical abuse. Yes. That can trail you forever.

(3:59 – 4:32)
So- It will trail you forever. I guess we do need to be careful. If people have questions about this, how can they reach you for more information? Well, you can reach us at 619-574-8000 and you will get a free 30 minute phone consultation or you can reach us online at www.frimusfamilylaw.com and there’s a form you can fill out and we get right back to you and get you on our schedule for that free 30 minute phone consult.