The Use of Health Records During a Divorce

During the divorce process, you may be asked to disclose certain pieces of medical information if they are relevant to the divorce case. While this does not mean your spouse is allowed to dig through your medical history without restrictions, it does mean you can expect to have medical records requested if there’s any reason to believe those records will affect the divorce, such as if you have outstanding medical debts or if you have ongoing medical expenses.

Putting limitations on use of medical records

There are some ways in which you can seek to limit the use of your medical history during the divorce process. For example, some types of medical conditions or treatments might be completely irrelevant to the case at hand. There is no need, for example, for a minor chronic condition to be brought up during the divorce process, or a past cosmetic surgery that has long since been paid for. You still have the right to privacy as far as your medical records are concerned, and can exercise that right when your right to privacy outweighs the need for the divorce court to have certain pieces of information.

In some cases, however, you might have to produce medical records if you wish to get your desired outcome in the case. If you’re seeking alimony, for example, you may need to produce records regarding disabilities or chronic conditions if such conditions are part of the reason you are looking for that support.

An effective strategy for protecting your privacy can be to produce records with the requested information, but redact portions of those documents that are irrelevant.

For further guidance on this and other issues related to your divorce, speak with a knowledgeable Long Island divorce attorney at Bryan L. Salamone & Associates.