Smartphones evidence a boon for divorce lawyers

We all love our smartphones. But if you're going through a divorce, there's a good chance your spouse's lawyer loves that smartphone even more than you do.

A report from All Things D reminds us that in this digital era, exercising caution goes much further than tweets and Facebook posts. The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers is reporting a spike in cases that include evidence taken from smartphones, including Androids, BlackBerrys and iPhones.

"As smartphones and text messaging become main sources of communication during the course of each day, there will inevitably be more and more evidence that an estranged spouse can collect," reveals Ken Altshuler, AAML President in the story. "Text messages can be particularly powerful forms of evidence during a divorce case, because they are written records of someone's thoughts, actions and intentions."

At 62 per cent, text messages account for the most common form of smartphone evidence used in divorce proceedings. Email evidence follows up at 23 per cent, while phone numbers and call histories round it out at 13 per cent. But the extensive data used in today's smartphones is sure to work its way into the mix.

"[Use of] Smartphone-specific data, such as GPS or Internet search history, is still rare in divorce cases, but represents the kind of powerful evidence bound to show up more in the future," reports Ina Fried in the story.

(AFP image)