Find out whether a custody file is public in your state, which parts stay sealed everywhere, and how to request more privacy from a judge.
Best for the Children Editorial·9 min read·October 21, 2025·Updated October 20, 2026
You type your own name into a court search website after a custody hearing and wonder what a nosy neighbor, a new employer, or your ex's family could pull up. The answer depends heavily on your state. Court records start out presumptively open. But New York seals custody files for a century, and California and Minnesota keep most family files off the internet. Nearly every state locks away the most sensitive pieces, such as custody evaluations and abuse reports. Here is how those layers work and how you can add more protection.
The baseline is openness. In Nixon v. Warner Communications, Inc. (1978), the U.S. Supreme Court recognized a general common-law right to inspect and copy judicial records. The Court also held that this right is not absolute and that trial courts have discretion over how it is exercised.
That right does not come from freedom of information laws. The federal Freedom of Information Act covers only federal executive branch agencies. Courts, federal and state alike, are outside it. You cannot file a FOIA request for someone's custody case. Access to court files is governed by court rules, statutes, and judges' discretion, and that is why the answer changes so much from state to state.
New York is the strongest example of a closed system. Under Domestic Relations Law § 235, records in matrimonial actions are confidential and withheld from public inspection for 100 years from filing. That explicitly includes actions over custody, visitation, or child support. If you need to prove a judgment exists, for example to show a new agency that you were divorced or that an order was entered, the county clerk can issue a certificate of disposition. It confirms the outcome without exposing the pleadings or testimony.
New York's Family Court, where unmarried parents often litigate custody, has a parallel rule. Family Court Act § 166 protects its records, including custody, paternity, and child welfare cases, against indiscriminate public inspection. Access is limited to the parties, their attorneys, and authorized entities unless a court orders otherwise.
The courtroom is a different matter. Under New York's Uniform Rules for the Family Court (22 NYCRR § 205.4), Family Court proceedings are presumptively open to the public and the press. A judge may exclude people case by case, for reasons such as disruption, an objection from a party or the child's attorney, or the need to protect the children involved. So a sealed file does not guarantee an empty courtroom.
Many states treat a custody file as public but make people come to the courthouse to read it.
In these states, your neighbor probably cannot browse your parenting dispute from a couch. Someone willing to drive to the courthouse may still read a good deal of it.
Even where custody files are generally public, the most revealing documents usually are not.
Custody evaluations. Under California Family Code § 3111, a child custody evaluation report must go in the confidential portion of the court file. Anyone who discloses it without authorization can face monetary sanctions and attorney's fees. Indiana's Rules on Access to Court Records automatically exclude from public access several kinds of reports: custody evaluations, guardian ad litem reports, CASA reports, and parenting coordinator reports. Texas Family Code § 107.112 requires custody evaluators to make audiovisual recordings of their interviews with the child. Those recordings are confidential and cannot be released after the case ends except by court order for good cause.
Child abuse and neglect records. In Florida, Statutes § 39.202 makes reports and records of child abuse, abandonment, or neglect held by the Department of Children and Families confidential and exempt from public records law.
Adoption files. California Family Code § 9200 closes adoption petitions, orders, and files to the public. Only the parties, their attorneys, and the Department of Social Services can see them. Outsiders need written authorization from a judge, which requires exceptional circumstances and good cause approaching necessity.
Some states also require parties to strip identifying details out of what they file.
These rules put the responsibility on the person filing. If you represent yourself, check your state's redaction rule before you submit anything. A document filed with a child's full name and birth date may sit in a public file until someone asks the court to fix it.
If your state's default rules leave something exposed, you can ask the court to seal it. Expect to justify the request.
California sets a demanding standard under Rule of Court 2.550(d). A judge may seal a record only after making express findings on four points:
Florida family records that are not covered by an automatic exemption stay presumptively public. Under Rule 2.420, a party who wants more closed must file a Motion to Determine Confidentiality of Court Records and show strong legal grounds.
Texas is more flexible for families. Its general sealing rule for civil cases, Rule 76a, imposes public notice requirements before a record can be sealed. Suits under the Texas Family Code are expressly exempt from that rule, which leaves family judges more discretion to seal records under family law standards.
Across these systems, a request to seal one specific document, such as a medical record or a report about the child, is easier to justify than a request to seal an entire case.
Many parents assume that working out custody themselves keeps everything private. That is only partly true. Once you file an agreement and ask a judge to approve it, it becomes part of the court file. It is then as public or private as any other record in that court, under the rules above.
An agreement you never file stays out of the court system. As a general rule, though, you then lose the court's direct power to enforce it. That trade-off is worth discussing with a family lawyer in your state before you rely on a handshake deal.
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