What is the pros and cons of allowing your spouse to your…

Hello,

I would like to help you with your question.

I think the pros and cons depend on what the purpose would be of having your spouse read the documents. And also on the current state of the marriage...is this a healthy relationship? is this a relationship on the verge of separation/divorce?

I would be happy to respond if you could give me a little more information.

So is your spouse wanting the information so as to use it against you?

The records between a psychiatrist and patient are confidential. They cannot be released unless the client provides written agreement and specifies what to release and to whom.

As the marriage is on the verge of separation, I am unclear what "pro" would be involved in making those records available to the spouse - other than to indicate what is the status of one's mental health, what medication one may be taking, and what gains in stability have been made, and what the prognosis is. On the "con" side, would be the ability of the spouse to use the above information as a negative to claim the client is, for example, an unfit parent, an abusive partner, a danger to themselves or others, or so forth.

If you would like to share a few more details, I can provide a more precise answer.

I await your response.

The best person who can answer this would be an attorney. Have you hired an attorney?

If you are separating...and not divorcing...the courts are unlikely to be involved. However, if you want to be sure of what your rights are, what might happen to you if you were to divorce...then I encourage you to seek the advice of an attorney so that you can absolutely sure that you are being protected..and if there are children involved...that you are protecting the interests of the children.

Each state has different rules regarding divorce, so you will want to speak to a Family Law attorney.

As I noted earlier, your records cannot be revealed without your consent. When custody is an issue, the courts often request a mental health evaluation and custody study. So, even if you did not provide consent for your spouse to see your current psychiatric record, information about your mental health status could be obtained by the courts. This is another reason why you would want to check with an attorney now.