Text Messages in Divorce – Collecting and Using as Evidence

In the virtual world in which we live important information can exist on a variety of electronic devices.  We use smartphones, tablets, PC’s and even smart watches.  According to Lawyers Perth, all of these locations could contain important information and even evidence in a divorce proceeding.

What kind of device you need to search and from which you should retrieve information depends very much on the type of divorce you may be handling.  Collecting evidence from electronic devices can be expensive and time consuming, so the first step is to identify exactly what you want.

Here are some examples of narrowing your search:  if you are trying to prove allegations of certain conduct (e.g. adultery) you might start with emails and text messages.  These can be found on electronic devices but also can easily be accessed on-line.  Text messages are more difficult because they typically exist only on smart devices.  Since 2010 cell phones were required to provide “location information” to assist with emergency services so ou might also consider retrieving the geo-location information from smart devices.  This can help prove the other party was in a certain location at a certain time.  For example, perhaps a wife was at a known location for drug dealing instead of at a child’s soccer game.

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