FAMILY MATTERS, CHILD PROTECTION MATTERS, AND

PROTECTION ORDER CASES (A) No Remote Access. No court records are accessible by the public remotely. (B) Nonpublic Cases. No court records are accessible by the public in the following proceedings: (1) Child protection matters; (2) Adoptions; (3) Guardianships of minors; (4) Name changes for minors; (5) Petitions for court-authorized abortions for minors; (6) Emancipations of minors; (7) Assisted reproduction matters, including noncompliance with gestational carrier agreements; (8) Termination of parental rights and responsibilities pursuant to 19-A M.R.S. § 1658; and (9) Any other proceeding that is nonpublic by law. 26 (C) Court Records in Family Matters and Protection Order Cases Accessible by the Public only at a Courthouse. Court records listed below are accessible by the public only at a courthouse except as provided by law or subdivisions (B) or (D) of this rule. (1) Protection from abuse cases; (2) Protection from harassment cases; and (3) The following family matters: (a) Divorce, annulment, or judicial separation; (b) Parental rights and responsibilities, including the establishment or enforcement of a child support obligation; (c) Establishment of parentage including complaints for de facto parenthood; and (d) Grandparent or great-grandparent visitation. (D) Nonpublic Records. The documents listed below, when filed in family matters and protection order cases, are nonpublic, except as provided by law. (1) Disability accommodation requests; (2) guardianship, proceedings; Images of minors and of persons of any age subject to commitment conservatorship, or mental health (3) Images depicting nudity or of a sexual nature, including sexual acts, sexual contact, or sexual touching; (4) authorizations; Immigration and visa documents and related work (5) Court records relating to applications for court-appointed counsel and fee waivers, including indigency affidavits and any attachments; 27 (6) Personal financial documents, including child support affidavits and worksheets, qualified domestic relations orders, financial statements, tax documents including W-2s, paystubs, bank statements, account statements, and payment histories; (7) Personal health and medical records, including HIV/AIDS testing documents and results, all mental health evaluations and records, forensic evaluations, substance use evaluations and treatment records, psychological records, and intelligence test documents and results; (8) School and education records; (9) Birth certificates and death certificates; (10) Requests for appointment of a guardian ad litem, orders appointing guardians ad litem, guardian ad litem reports, and guardian ad litem vouchers; (11) Reports of sexual assault forensic examination kits; (12) Social Security Number Confidential Disclosure Form; (13) Files, reports, records, communications, and working papers used or developed in providing child advocacy center services pursuant to 22 M.R.S. § 4019(9); (14) Recordings of child advocacy center forensic interviews pursuant to 22 M.R.S. § 4019(9-A); (15) Family and probate matter summary sheet; (16) Party Contact Information form; (17) Affidavit for confidential address or contact information, and any identifying or residence information that is confidential under 19-A M.R.S. § 4112, 5 M.R.S. § 4656, or M.R. Civ. P. 102; (18) Requests for release of confidential records under 22 M.R.S. § 4008(3)(B); 28 (19) Orders to produce confidential records and orders after review of confidential records under 22 M.R.S. § 4008(3)(B); and (20) Any other court record or document to which public access is prohibited by law. Advisory Note – January 2026 Rule 7(B) is amended to add another case type to the list of nonpublic cases and to clarify that the list is illustrative and not exhaustive of all proceedings made nonpublic by law. Rule 7(D) is amended to list nonpublic information in the same order as in the criminal and civil rules of access. See M.R.E.C.S. 4 and 5. Rule 7(D) also categorizes personal financial documents as nonpublic documents. It is important to note that child support orders, unlike child support affidavits, are not personal financial documents because they do not include personal financial information of the parties. Rule 7(D) also adds items to the list of nonpublic documents, including (1) the party contact information form, (2) requests for release of confidential records under 22 M.R.S. § 4008(3)(B), and (3) orders to produce confidential records and orders after review of confidential records under 22 M.R.S. § 4008(3)(B).