Bivek Brubaker & Prescott LLC | Family Law Attorneys

Call 470-663-9404

  • Home
  • Our Firm
    • Bivek, Damon S.
    • Brubaker, Melanie A.
    • Prescott, Suzanne T.
    • Why We’re Different
    • FAQs
    • Testimonials
  • Practice Areas
    • Divorce
    • Alimony In Georgia
    • Family Law
    • Children And Custody
    • Adoption
  • Blog
  • Contact
    • Interactive Tour
  • Make Payment
Bivek Brubaker & Prescott LLC | Family Law Attorneys
  • Home
  • Our Firm
    • Bivek, Damon S.
    • Brubaker, Melanie A.
    • Prescott, Suzanne T.
    • Why We’re Different
    • FAQs
    • Testimonials
  • Practice Areas
    • Divorce
    • Alimony In Georgia
    • Family Law
    • Children And Custody
    • Adoption
  • Blog
  • Contact
    • Interactive Tour
  • Make Payment
EMAIL

CALL

Helping You Achieve The Goals You Envision For Your Family

  1. Home
  2.  | 
  3. Divorce
  4.  | 
  5. Mental Health & Medical Privacy

Mental Health And Medical Privacy

Last updated on March 28, 2025

When you’re going through a divorce, it’s important to understand the privacy protections you may or may not legally have with your psychiatrist, psychologist and other medical professionals.

In contested divorces (where you and your spouse can’t agree on one or more of the issues in your divorce), people often worry about the confidentiality of their psychiatric and other mental health records, and how they may affect their divorce. This is a real concern, as both spouses are collecting evidence and trying to use it to their advantage for alimony, child custody, property division and other important issues.

What Is Protected?

Under Georgia law, you benefit from several types of patient privilege, including:

  • Communications between you and your psychiatrist (or psychologist), as well as any communications between you and the attending psychiatrist’s staff, including nurses and attendants
  • Admissions or hospitalizations for your psychiatric treatment
  • Diagnoses from your psychiatrist

Almost anything that starts as communication between you and your psychiatrist is off-limits from anyone who requests it, including your current or former spouse. To create the psychiatrist-patient relationship, you must have at least considered, if not undergone treatment for your mental health with this particular doctor.

Once you establish the psychiatrist-patient relationship, be careful not to waive your own right to privacy. Patients sometimes accidentally waive their rights. For example, patients have called their own psychiatrists to testify as witnesses on their mental condition, which indirectly waives their right to privacy.

Even if someone accidentally provides privileged information during the legal discovery process, Georgia courts usually will not recognize this information as evidence and will not consider it a waiver of privacy on your part.

What Is Not Protected?

The privacy protections above do not extend to other areas, so be careful not to assume anything without first checking with an experienced Georgia divorce attorney. For example, these areas are not protected:

  • The fact that you sought treatment for mental health and those dates
  • Communications you make with anyone besides the attending psychiatrist and their agents during your psychiatric treatment
  • Physician-patient privilege

It is important to know what is protected information and what is not. This way, you – and your legal advocate – can make the right objections at the right time.

First, you should be careful what you say and to whom if you are undergoing treatment for mental health. Be sure to limit any communications with staff who are not agents of the attending psychiatrist.

Second, you do not have the same privacy protections with your regular medical professionals that you do with your psychiatrist or other mental health providers. Georgia law does allow considerable rights to medical privacy, but your personal medical records could be disclosed without your consent – but only by a court order or other applicable Georgia law.

Contact A Marietta Divorce Attorney

As you can see, the details about medical privacy during a divorce can be confusing and complex. The Marietta divorce lawyers at Bivek Brubaker & Prescott LLC understand these and other complexities of a divorce. Contact us at 470-663-9404 to schedule a consultation today.

Practice Areas

  • Divorce
    • Types Of Divorce In Georgia
    • Counseling
    • Asset Division
    • Georgia Divorce and Cobb County
    • Arbitration
    • Former Military Spouse Benefits
    • Mental Health & Medical Privacy
    • Annulments
    • Divorce Checklist: Your Spouse’s Financial Records
    • Divorce Mistakes
    • Georgia Divorce and Cherokee County
    • Divorce and Mediation
    • Georgia Divorce and Bartow County
    • Post – Divorce Modifications
    • Contempt of Court
    • Gray Divorce
    • Military Divorce Lawyers in Georgia
    • Legal Separation
    • Collaborative Law
    • Telling The Kids
    • Cost Of Divorce
    • Grounds For Divorce In Georgia
    • Strengthening Your Marriage
  • Alimony in Georgia
    • Adultery And Alimony
      • How Do You Legally Prove Adultery?
    • Alimony And Taxes In Georgia Divorce
    • Alimony: When Does It End?
    • Remarriage
    • Alimony And Spousal Support
      • What Are the Types of Alimony?
  • Family Law
    • Postnuptial Agreements
    • Prenuptial Agreements
    • Property Division
    • Temporary Protective Orders
    • Domestic Violence
    • Same – Sex Couples
  • Children And Custody
    • Child Custody Evaluations
    • How Long Does Child Support Last?
    • Parenting Plan Examples
    • Child Election Laws
    • International Custody Disputes
    • Child Support
      • Who Can Get Child Support?
    • Paternity Legitimation
    • Child Support Modifications
    • Relocation
    • Guardian Ad Litem
    • Grandparents’ Rights
    • Fathers’ Rights
    • What Happens When a Parent Is Not Paying Child Support?
  • Adoption Attorney Atlanta
    • Guardianships
    • Grandparent Adoption
    • Open Adoptions
    • Adopting From the Foster System
    • Top Adoption Questions
    • Choosing Between Domestic and International Adoption
    • Third Party Adoption
    • Family Building for Same-Sex Couples
  • Georgia Divorce and Gwinnett County
  • Georgia Divorce and Fulton County

Contact Our Metro Atlanta Family Law Firm



Address

707 Whitlock Avenue
Suite G4
Marietta, GA 30064
Marietta Office
Bivek Brubaker & Prescott LLC | Family Law Attorneys
Make Payment


Contact Us

Phone:
470-663-9404

  • Follow
Review Our Firm

© 2025 Bivek Brubaker & Prescott LLC • All Rights Reserved

Disclaimer | Site Map | Privacy Policy | Business Development Solutions by FindLaw