You can ask a Georgia judge to seal your financial affidavit, but you should not assume the request will be granted.
What You Can Ask For
Uniform Superior Court Rule 24.2 says that on the request of either party, and upon good cause shown, the court may order the affidavits, worksheets, schedules, and any other financial information sealed. That is the request. It is not a right, and it takes a court order.
What the Court Must Find
Rule 21 starts from the opposite presumption: all court records are public and available for public inspection unless access is limited by law or by the procedure the rules set out. Before sealing anything, the court must hold a hearing on reasonable notice, must find that the harm to a person’s privacy clearly outweighs the public interest, and must state in the order what is sealed, for how long, and why.
In Altman v. Altman, 301 Ga. 211 (2017), a divorce case, the Georgia Supreme Court reversed a sealing order that recited only that the material was “of a nature that [is] protected and privileged from disclosure as public record” and that “good cause” had been shown. Those conclusory findings, the Court held, “are insufficient to support a restriction on public access to court records.” A judge has to explain how the privacy invasion here differs from the one every party to a civil suit suffers.
You May Not Need to Seal Anything
Rule 24.2 already keeps the most sensitive items off the public record. Only the last four digits of Social Security numbers, tax identification numbers, and financial account numbers go in, and birth dates are given by year only. Redacting first is faster than litigating a sealing motion.
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This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!