what does sealed records or seal a record mean?

[whatsupdan]

What is the name of your state? SC

Divorce case, wife refuses to give records of a previous case that has contents I need and the judge agrees. Think my wife lied to her lawyer about what that case is about so her lawyer initially said that case is irrelevant to the discovery, but now understands it's very relevant. As a last ditch effort, my wife's lawyer said those court records are private and contain sensitive information. My lawyer fired back and said we aren't trying to publish it in a newspaper and offered to keep them sealed. Judge ordered my wife to sign the release form for the records.

(1) From my understanding sealing a record just means the court will not publish those records publicly, correct? I should be able to use the records in the case (judge knows what I want and agreed I should have access to the records), right? (asked my lawyer this and he said yeah but wanted to confirm)

(2) I think there is fraud in the previous case and I plan to report it. Without getting into the statute of limitations, what the crime might be or even if the court/police will care. My question is, just because a record is sealed, does not prevent me from reporting a crime, does it? (didn't ask my lawyer this because it looks bad, but you bet I would report it).

I'm not gossiping about it to friend or posting the records on Facebook or anything like that. What I need I'll use in my case, but, also, if I suspect some fraud I plan to report it.

 

[Ohiogal]

You have an attorney and he is the best one of whom to inquire.

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state? SC

Divorce case, wife refuses to give records of a previous case that has contents I need and the judge agrees. Think my wife lied to her lawyer about what that case is about so her lawyer initially said that case is irrelevant to the discovery, but now understands it's very relevant. As a last ditch effort, my wife's lawyer said those court records are private and contain sensitive information. My lawyer fired back and said we aren't trying to publish it in a newspaper and offered to keep them sealed. Judge ordered my wife to sign the release form for the records.

(1) From my understanding sealing a record just means the court will not publish those records publicly, correct? I should be able to use the records in the case (judge knows what I want and agreed I should have access to the records), right? (asked my lawyer this and he said yeah but wanted to confirm)

(2) I think there is fraud in the previous case and I plan to report it. Without getting into the statute of limitations, what the crime might be or even if the court/police will care. My question is, just because a record is sealed, does not prevent me from reporting a crime, does it? (didn't ask my lawyer this because it looks bad, but you bet I would report it).

I'm not gossiping about it to friend or posting the records on Facebook or anything like that. What I need I'll use in my case, but, also, if I suspect some fraud I plan to report it.

I suspect your attorney would tell you not to do that. You also need to be careful not to cut off your nose to spite your face.

 

[Taxing Matters]

What is the name of your state? SC

My lawyer fired back and said we aren't trying to publish it in a newspaper and offered to keep them sealed. Judge ordered my wife to sign the release form for the records.

(Bolding added.) Your lawyer made the offer, and thus is in the best position to tell you what he meant. Very generally when a court seals a record it is not available to the public (as most court records are) but instead those records are only limited to access by specific persons. In addition, parties to the case and/or others may be restricted in disclosing that information, too. But the exact details depends on the statute or court order that orders the records sealed. If the court sealed the record, then you need to refer to the court order as to exactly what the restrictions on you are, if any. If your lawyer simply agreed to keep the records "sealed" or private, then the lawyer is the one to ask what the agreement was.

I should be able to use the records in the case (judge knows what I want and agreed I should have access to the records), right? (asked my lawyer this and he said yeah but wanted to confirm)

Use is a pretty broad term. Use the information from the records in what way? Obviously you and your lawyer can use it as appropriate in this particular case. Beyond that, I cannot say without knowing the scope of what the restrictions on disclosure are and how you plan to use the information.

My question is, just because a record is sealed, does not prevent me from reporting a crime, does it?

No, it doesn't. You can report the suspected crime. But you might not be able to disclose information from the sealed records and may have to tell the police "additional details about this are in a sealed court record".

 

[Zigner]

I understand that the judge ordered your wife to produce the information, so my question is merely because I'm curious:

Why weren't you (through your attorney) able to obtain the information directly from the case file on the previous case?

 

[zddoodah]

From my understanding sealing a record just means the court will not publish those records publicly, correct?

I wouldn't use the word "publish." For a court record to be "sealed" means that it isn't available for the review by the public, as most court records are.

I should be able to use the records in the case (judge knows what I want and agreed I should have access to the records), right? (asked my lawyer this and he said yeah but wanted to confirm)

It is impossible for anyone here to answer this question intelligently because we know nothing about the records in question or their relevance to your case (and certainly, no one here knows better than your lawyer). However, didn't you answer your own question when you told us that "the judge agrees" and "ordered [your] wife to sign the release form for the records"?

My question is, just because a record is sealed, does not prevent me from reporting a crime, does it?

You can report anything you like to anyone. However, whether disclosing the sealed records in connection with such a report would or would not violate the court's order that allowed you to gain access is obviously something only a person who has read the order and is familiar with the case can answer intelligently.