If you are like many people you probably use your smartphone for everything from calls to texts to emails. Not surprisingly then, evidence from smartphones is more frequently being introduced as evidence during divorces.
A survey of divorce attorneys found that an overwhelming 90 percent say they have witnessed a rise in evidence obtained from smartphones like iPhones, BlackBerrys and Droids over the past few years. The increase seems to be particularly tied to the use of text messages. The same survey found 94 percent of divorce lawyers have seen text messages more commonly used as evidence during proceedings.
The survey was conducted by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML), which is comprised of over 1,500 family law attorneys in the U.S.
The president of AAML explained that, “Text messages can be particularly powerful forms of evidence during a divorce case, because they are written records of someone’s thoughts, actions and intentions.”
Sixty-two percent of evidence taken from smartphones was in the form of text messages. Emails placed second with 23 percent. They were followed by call histories and phone numbers representing 13 percent, and Internet search and GPS histories representing only one percent of evidence obtained from smartphones.
If you are currently going through a divorce, you should be conscious of the fact that your texts, emails and calls can be used as evidence during future proceedings. You should try to refrain from anything that could be perceived as harmful to your case.
Source: AAML, Lawyers Finding Divorce App in Smart Phones, Feb. 8 2012
