Your Diary is Discoverable

Research has shown that journaling has many benefits for your emotional and mental health, from helping you achieve goals, to reducing stress and anxiety, and it has become increasingly popular, with many people incorporating daily journaling into their typical routines. Your diary seems like a safe place, where you can write down your innermost thoughts and feelings for your eyes only. However, if you are involved in a custody battle or divorce, you may be surprised to know that in some cases, your private diary could be used as evidence in court.

Diaries are Not Usually Confidential

As a general matter, your diary will not be considered “confidential,” which means that it won’t automatically be regarded as “off limits” and inadmissible as evidence in court. In some cases, a personal diary may contain relevant evidence with respect to pending issues in court, and consequently it may be discoverable. If it’s discoverable, the contents of your diary could indeed be used to substantiate a certain position. In some situations, your diary may not be considered much more than “hearsay,” and therefore may be practically useless from an evidentiary viewpoint. However, there may be other cases – such as those which involve domestic violence or other abuse – in which the information contained within a diary can be highly useful for proving a particular point.  This means your ex and their attorneys may be entitled to read your diary or journal.  In fact, this happens quite frequently in family law cases.

Diary Owners are Entitled to Privacy

Even though diaries are not normally considered confidential, and therefore may be used as potential evidence, we should definitely point out the fact that writers are still entitled to a certain degree of privacy. What this means is that diary writers can expect that their diary will not be published or in any way broadcast to the general public. The reason, of course, is that, although a diary may contain relevant evidence, it may also contain information which could be embarrassing to the owner. In point of fact, if a diary does contain certain highly private information, and the diary is impermissibly published, the publisher can face legal repercussions as a consequence. The bottom line is that diary owners do have a legal right to privacy even though they don’t have a right to confidentiality.

Use Diaries Strategically

What this all boils down to, ultimately, is that a diary could be strategically useful in the context of certain cases, and in those cases your attorney should attempt to extract as much value from a diary as possible. They might confirm certain allegations, or at least provide substantial evidence. For instance, suppose a husband strikes his wife with a closed fist, and this leaves a nasty bruise. If this incident is referenced in a private diary, and all signs point to the reliability of the diary, then this information might be useful in the context of divorce litigation. The wife, in this case, might be able to cite the diary in her attempt to obtain full legal or physical custody (or both). This is just one example, and there are plenty of other hypothetical scenarios in which a diary might contain valuable information.

If you have questions about what may or may not be discoverable in your family law case, consult a qualified family law attorney today by calling (301) 388-5528.