Smartphones have become ubiquitous in modern life. As the prevalence of these devices increases, a parallel increase has been seen in the use of evidence gathered from these devices in divorce court. More and more separated and divorcing couples may communicate via these devices but, unlike face-to-face communication, these devices capture those communications in emails and text messages and can reproduce them later for use in a court of law.

Things that you say in the heat of the moment to a person's face are different than messages you write out and send electronically as these messages never go away. These messages can be saved and printed out. Even if a message is deleted, many times there are ways to retrieve it. This can be a problem for one spouse or another, and can be particularly damaging in cases involving child custody issues.

What this means is, you should stop, take a deep breath and think before you send that angry message over your phone or email. You should remember that your conduct outside the divorce court can be used against you in court and electronic messages are all the easier to find and use. If you are fighting for custody or shared custody of your kids, try to take the high road because a judge will look favorably on mature and rational conduct that puts the best interest of the kids first.

Source: Daily Herald, "Lawyers using smartphone data in divorces," Feb. 11, 2012