In July, the Wisconsin Supreme Court approved three new laws that will better protect your privacy during your family court legal proceeding. First, section 801.19 of the Wisconsin Statutes, will specifically protect the following numbers that are commonly found in your court records: social security numbers, employer and tax identification numbers, financial account numbers (i.e.: credit cards and bank accounts), driver licenses, and passport numbers. These numbers are often required for financial disclosure purposes, but this law will help protect the parties’ information by requiring these numbers to be redacted, and allowing this protected information to only be seen by the parties, their counsel, and the judge. This is especially relevant as the courts are moving toward electronic filing of case documents, and case records may be more readily available through online access.

Second, section 801.20 of the Wisconsin Statutes will require the parties to identify certain case types and documents as confidential at the time they are filed. All placement proceedings will be automatically identified as confidential. Plus, documents such as family financial disclosure statements and confidential petition addendum forms will also be automatically identified as confidential.

Finally, section 801.21 of the Wisconsin Statutes, provides parties with a procedure for motions to seal. This will allow parties to identify specific information, not already specified in section 801.20 of the Wisconsin Statutes, and move the court to seal or redact it based upon already existing authority to restrict public access. There are approved forms that may be used to protect the privacy of your information in court documents, and are available at https://www.wicourts.gov/forms1/circuit/index.htm. However, there may also be local forms and procedures necessary to better ensure that your information is protected. If you are unsure as to how to best protect your privacy during your family court case, call us at (414) 258-1644 to schedule a free initial consultation to discuss your case.