If your spouse is knowingly doing something wrong, he or she may try to hide the misconduct by purchasing and using a second (secret) cell phone. It may be useful to look at the spouse’s photographs, videos and social media accounts for possible evidence of wrongdoing as well. Your lawyer may also search through emails, group chats and instant messages. Texts between your spouse and someone else could provide incriminating evidence, such as suggestive texts alluding to an affair or texts about vacations or gambling. Text messages are a mainstay when using a person’s cell phone records during a divorce case. Today’s cell phones are extremely advanced and capable of keeping a great deal of data.
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Your lawyer can demand full cell phone records that show the phone’s entire history – including deleted items – in most cases. The most common are text messages, social media accounts and photographs. If your lawyer is subpoenaing your spouse’s cell phone records during a divorce case in Colorado, he or she could be looking for evidence of infidelity, fraud, hidden marital assets or other misconduct in several key places. Cell phone records could reveal offshore accounts, hidden assets or extravagant spending by a spouse who is claiming not to have much money, for instance. Another common way to use cell phone records during a divorce is to prove the spouse’s financial status. Although Colorado is a no-fault divorce state, meaning adultery will have no grounds in establishing fault for a divorce, one spouse could use proof of an affair to prove a point during decisions such as child custody or spousal maintenance. Many spouses do this as a means of proving an affair, for example.
Subpoenaing cell phone records in a divorce case can serve several purposes during a contested divorce case. How Cell Phone Records Can Be Used in a Divorce The discovery phase can better prepare each side for what to expect during the trial. Each spouse can obtain information, evidence and documents from the other side, often through subpoenas and depositions. This is the step right before a divorce trial, in which both sides have the chance to learn what the other side knows.
Subpoenaing cell phone records from phone companies often takes place during the discovery phase of a divorce. What Takes Place During the Discovery Phase? In a divorce case, both sides of the divorce can use subpoenas to force the other to produce information, including cell phone records. This includes private information such as personal emails or text messages. Divorce attorneys use subpoenas to gain access to information that could be important to the case. Subpoenas and Divorce CasesĪ subpoena is a legal order demanding someone to produce documents or records or appear in court. In Colorado, it is legal for one spouse to subpoena another’s phone records during an official divorce proceeding. One spouse may need to search for private information on another spouse’s electronic devices in a contested divorce case, for example, to prove something such as hidden assets, lavish expenses or an affair.
Can Phone Records Be Subpoenaed in a Divorce?Ī divorce can be difficult or messy depending on the couple and the circumstances.