DIVORCE PRIVACY DURING COVID-19 - ONLINE STREAMING OF COURT PROCEEDINGS

Your right to privacy has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Under our current “Stay at Home Order,” Michigan Courts have been urged to stream all court hearings over the Internet.  That means your court hearing could be live on YouTube. This is to secure the public’s constitutional right to access the Courts. 

What does this mean to a party wanting to pursue a divorce in the times of COVID-19? That your divorce proceedings (which normally would not be attended by your neighbors, in-laws, or even your children) can now be streamed by them without you even knowing they were watching you discuss some of the most personal issues of your life:  your children’s custody, your income and all your assets.

Why? Although divorce proceedings have always been open to the public, the public either did know this fact or,  if they did, they certainly did not want you to know they were watching you. But now, in these unprecedented times, your divorce is more accessible than ever. Now, anyone could privately stream your sensitive matter from their privacy of their couch. 

For the most private ways to address your family law concerns during COVID-19, our firm, Banfield Couling Law and Mediation PLLC, offers the best options to protect your privacy in these unsettling times.