It seems as if cell phones have taken over our lives. People work, eat and sleep with their phones never more than an arm’s length away. It now seems natural that when it comes time for divorce, a person’s cell phone and specifically their text messages could contain damaging information about their extramarital affairs, how they are spending their time and money, who they are spending time with and whether they are wasting marital assets to support their extra-marital shenanigans.

You may be able to use the information in your spouse’s cell phone, such as text messages, location history, social media posts and photographs to prove that there was an affair, and evidence of other abusive or unstable behavior that could be harmful for the children. When people are going through such an emotionally tumultuous time as a break-up and divorce, they will sometimes say incredible things through text messages.

How to preserve text messages for evidence

If you have received text messages from your spouse that you would like to save to be used for evidence there are a few things you can do.

• There are apps that can save text messages from your phone to your computer, such as Decipher TextMessage On an Android phone you can save your text messages from your cell phone to your computer using a different app. Once they have been saved you can print them out.
• If you have an iPhone you can take a screenshot to capture the message.
• If you want to get a copy of your cell phone carrier’s records of text messages over a period of time, your Nashville divorce lawyer can subpoena the records from the cell phone carrier.

If you are in the middle of a contentious divorce proceeding, do your best to contain your emotions. Do not send angry, threatening text messages or emails to your soon-to-be-ex-spouse and stay away from social media.

So yes, text messages can be admitted as evidence if the court decides that they are relevant to the case. You will have to show that you received the text messages from the other party, and that you have not altered them in any way.

Text messages are just one aspect of electronic discovery in divorce. Be mindful that any electronic information you might be looking to find about your ex, they will be looking for the same information about you.

Are you planning to get a divorce in Tennessee? Please contact our knowledgeable Nashville divorce attorneys at Miller Upshaw Family Law, PLLC to discuss your case.