Text Messages and Divorce Proceedings

Text messages are already an integral part of our society so it makes sense that they become important in divorce proceedings. According to a recent study from the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, text messaging was one of the top three most common forms of electronic evidence.

If you suspect your spouse is cheating, what better way to find out than through his inbox? To do so, you can either read directly off the cell phone while your spouse is distracted or by removing them from the phone.

However, before you snoop, keep in mind, going through someone else’s cell phone is illegal in some states and the information you find may be made inadmissible in court so make sure to act on reasonable suspicion.

But cell phone companies don’t store messages anymore than a guilty spouse would.

Mark Siegel, the executive director of media and industry analyst relations for AT&T Wireless said that he knows of no way to save a text message, other than just not deleting it from the phone. He said AT&T stores text messages for 48 hours to ensure they are delivered, and then deletes them.

Verizon Wireless spokesperson, Deborah Lewis, says her company does not keep text messages on their servers for any length of time but if there are retrievable messages, a subpoena is required to obtain copies.

John Simek, vice president of Sensei Enterprises Inc., a Virginia computer forensics company, says the best chance at getting any text information if through searching the handset. If the messages are deleted, professionals may be called in.

If someone deletes their text messages, a company such as his own can try to retrieve the messages using several programs, such as Sim Card Seizure, Paraben Device Seizure, or BitPim. His company has seen an increase in requests to text messages

When the company gains access to the text messages, it can save them for the client, and then testify in court for the messages’ information, mollifying the worry over inadmissibility.

For more information, check out: divorce 360