Bar News - July 23, 2004
New Law Makes Financial Affidavits Confidential
EFFECTIVE AUG. 10, 2004, a new state law makes almost all financial affidavits filed in domestic relations cases confidential, accessible only to the parties and their attorneys, guardians ad litem, and state and federal government officials.
The measure, HB 384, was sponsored by Rep. James Pilliod and co-sponsored by Rep. Neal Kurk. A member of the Supreme Court’s Task Force on Public Access to Court Records, Kurk said that the bill was an example of the sometimes-overlapping roles of the legislature and the courts in determining public access policies to court records. The law, he said, creates a presumption that divorce records containing information about financial assets and other information should be private rather than public.
The following is the text of the bill, which was signed into law June 11:
202:1 New Section; Annulment, Divorce, and Separation; Procedure; Financial Affidavits. Amend RSA 458 by inserting after section 15-a the following new section:
458:15-b Financial Affidavits.
Except as provided in paragraph III, all financial affidavits filed under this chapter shall be confidential and accessible only to the parties, their attorneys, the guardian ad litem, department of health and human services employees responsible for child support administration, and state and federal officials for the purpose of carrying out their official functions. Any person who knowingly discloses a financial affidavit to any person not authorized to obtain the financial affidavit under this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. This paragraph shall not apply to documents released by a court pursuant to paragraph III. Notwithstanding paragraph I, the court may grant access to a financial affidavit filed under this chapter to a person upon a showing by clear and convincing evidence that the public interest served by release of the information outweighs the private interest served by maintaining the privacy of the financial affidavit. For the purposes of this paragraph, the right of the public to access court records shall not, absent further cause, constitute sufficient evidence to overcome the presumption of privacy contained in paragraph I.
202:2 Applicability. Section 1 of this act, relative to financial affidavits, shall apply to all proceedings under RSA 458 filed or brought forward on or after the effective date of this act.
202:3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage [approved June 11, 2004; effective Aug. 10, 2004.]
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