It’s not just national celebrities that face the possibility of seeing the details of their divorces aired in public.
Local businesspeople, heirs and politicians and even public safety officers have just as much of a chance of seeing their marital difficulties reported in the Dallas-area media.
While some people may not mind this attention, many high-profile couples would prefer not to have it. Some may even wonder as part of their overall divorce strategy what they might be able to do to keep the details of their divorce as private as possible.
Divorce documents are public records in Texas
While there may be exceptions and outliers, the general rule is that divorces are matters of public record in Texas. This means that, to some extent, a member of the public, including someone who works for a media outlet, will be able to access information about a Texas divorce if they know where to look for it.
There are options that might keep details out of public view
The fact some information about a divorce might be in public view does not mean that all the details about a couple’s finances and family situation have to be.
For example, if the couple had a post-nuptial or pre-nuptial agreement, there may be no need to spell out all the details of a couple’s finances since those details should be in the agreement.
Even without an agreement, the couple may be able to maintain privacy by participating in divorce mediation or some other type of alternate dispute resolution. These alternatives frequently allow a great deal of confidentiality, and certainly more than would a contested hearing in open court.
Alternative dispute resolution does not work for every situation, but a person who is considering a divorce and is worried about publicity should consider this and other alternatives.