The Sanctity of Post and the cost of being nosy!

Did you know, that interfering with the post can be a criminal offence. 

If you open someone else’s post in error, then it’s unlikely that there will be any consequences, provided you send the post on to the right person asap and don’t take anything that doesn’t belong to you. However, if you deliberately open someone else’s post and, for example, act on it, such as telling people what you found out, expect a call from the police if the rightful owner finds out. 

You might think that that doesn’t apply to married couples, but it does. Unless you have the express permission of your spouse to open their post for them, you would still be committing a criminal offence. 

This gets even worse if you’re in the process of getting divorced. If your other half moves out, it might be tempting to open any interesting-looking mail, especially if you think your ex is up to something dodgy. However, no matter how enticing it is, and how potentially juicy the information is, if you’re found out, you’ll be in an even worse position. Not only is it a criminal offence (and could damage your credibility in court) your ex would have the right to apply to the court for an order that anything you found out as a result was inadmissible. It might sound strange to learn that people can get away with hiding their assets or their dodgy dealings, but on the other hand, would you want your ex to have an incentive to go snooping through your personal affairs? 

Of course, this doesn’t just apply to post – in fact given how little people receive in the mail these days it’s no surprise that the principle applies to other forms of communication too, such as emails, so don’t go hacking into your ex’s computer either. 

If you’re the one that’s moving out, put a post redirect on your address as quickly as possible. If it was normal practice for you to open each other’s posts, make it clear that this is no longer acceptable – not because you have anything to hide but because your change in status means that you are entitled to a degree of privacy. If you are expecting anything to arrive at the house that is in any way important or confidential (or just tempting, such as letters from HMRC) then make sure your ex knows that you’ll be coming by to pick it up and you expect it to be in order. 

If you think there is anything missing, make sure your solicitor knows, and if you’ve been the one opening something you shouldn’t, tell your solicitor what you’ve done but NOT what you found. If they are told what was in any private post belonging to your ex, they may be compromised and so unable to continue acting for you. 

Kleyman & Co Solicitors. The full-service law firm. Posting good advice.