When a wife leaves an abusive marriage, how secure is her forwarding address from her husband? Will he be able to get access to it through the post office? Is she better off getting a P.O. box, or will her new address be secure? Is there any way it could be compromised?
It would be very easy to access a new address by simply sending a letter to the old address inscribed “ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED” – the letter will be returned to the sender with the new address sticker in place. I am unaware if this can be circumvented, though I’d imagine a court order would do the job.
Actually it needs to say “address service requested”. Costs .80 I believe. No way to circumvent. I would advise a PO Box. Happens all the time, usually bill collectors. So, no, her address would not be secure.
This has been bothering me since I posted last time. DO NOT FORWARD YOUR MAIL THROUGH USPS if you have an realistic fear that your husband may hurt you if he finds you. It just isn’t safe…at all. Womens shelters will let you use their address and then forward your mail to your new address. It took me over two years on a route before I “knew” where the shelter was for sure, THEY understand the gravity of the situation. Or get a PO box in a town several miles away from where you live. Let the bastard look there.
Actually, a PO Box Address isn’t really secure - people can find out the actual physical address registered to the PO Box.
Anyone can fill out a one page form walk down to the Post Office, and claim that they are a representative that needs to serve legal papers.
There’s a dotcom startup called Earth Class Mail that will receive all of your mail, scan it and make it available for viewing via the web. (And if you want, they’ll forward the actual mail to you.) They appear to be targeted at people who are traveling a lot but it might also work for someone who wants to hide their actual address.
A dotcom startup? Tonight I’m gonna post like it’s 1999.