Text messages can be cited in court, but they are not often used as evidence due to the difficulty of authentication. A subpoena is a legal order that requires someone to file documents or records or to appear in court, and divorce attorneys use them to gain access to information that might be important to the case. This includes private information, such as personal emails or text messages. In a divorce case, both parties can use subpoenas to force the other to produce information, including cell phone records. Most people are connected to their smartphones, which can include their email, call logs, text messages, photos, and more.
While you may believe that you have privacy when using your cell phone, these records are increasingly being used as evidence in divorce cases. Text messages are entered as evidence during a court proceeding to prove that one party said something to another. Since there is almost always an exchange of text messages, the court can examine both the message and the context in which the message was sent. Most text messages are presented to court as screenshots. Subpoena of telephone records in a divorce case can serve several purposes during a contested divorce case.
Former clients who have gone through the divorce process will tell you that this is the type of lawyer you want on your side. Because this information can significantly affect the outcome of a contested divorce, most states allow spouses to cite phone records and other confidential information during a divorce. This can be complicated depending on the state in which your divorce is being handled, as the rules for service vary from state to state. The subpoena of telephone company records is often carried out during the discovery phase of a divorce. If you are unsure about your state's divorce citation guidelines, it will help you to contact an experienced family law attorney to discuss your case in detail. Mat Camp is a former online editor of Lexicon Services who focused on providing a comprehensive view of all aspects of the divorce experience.
Camp used extensive research to highlight the challenging reality faced by those experiencing divorce or child custody issues. Also, if you're working with a lawyer (which most professionals recommend), you can expect to pay a lot more in legal fees. With disaggregated legal services, you can hire a divorce lawyer to handle your subpoena (or other complex issues) while saving money by handling the rest on your own. There is still a lot of legal work to address and decide on these issues, but if you are facing a divorce, make sure you work with an experienced family law attorney who understands your position and fights for your rights. We have been successful in obtaining messages through subpoenas in some divorce proceedings, but it is not common to succeed in this area because the text must be authenticated. If your lawyer is citing your spouse's cell phone records during a divorce case in Colorado, you could be looking for evidence of infidelity, fraud, hidden marital assets, or other misconduct in several key locations.
If one spouse believes that the other is hiding relevant information, your divorce lawyer can easily request your records.
