New York County Supreme Court Grants Unsealing of Matrimonial Case File for Deceased Father’s Daughter

In Matter of Marancie, New York County Supreme Court (Index Number 161631/2023), the petitioner, Abigail Patrice Morancie, requested the court to unseal a Supreme Court case file related to a 2012 matrimonial action involving her deceased father. The County Clerk and the former wife of the petitioner's father did not oppose the petition. In a July 19, 2024 decision, Hon. John J. Kelly granted the petition, stating that there would be no embarrassment to the deceased father or his former wife. The petitioner needed access to the file for a legal proceeding in Trinidad and Tobago. The court concluded that unsealing the file would not cause any prejudice or embarrassment to the deceased father and his former wife, and it ordered the County Clerk to make it available to the petitioner.

The court’s decision was guided by New York Domestic Relations Law § 235(1) and (3), which generally restrict access to matrimonial case files but allow for exceptions by court order. The court concluded that unsealing the file would serve no adverse purpose and ordered the County Clerk to make the file available to the petitioner.

The court states, "The petitioner has made a sufficient showing that she needs to unseal the divorce case file to process her claim in a Trinidad and Tobago decedent’s estate proceeding, and that by obtaining that file, she likely would resolve that proceeding."