If you’re facing divorce, call 203-936-6772 at LAW OFFICES OF PIAZZA & SIMMONS, LLC to set up an initial consultation.

If you’re facing divorce, call 203-936-6772 at LAW OFFICES OF PIAZZA & SIMMONS, LLC to set up an initial consultation.

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Guiding People Through Divorce With Grace And Dignity For More Than 30 Years

Attorney Anthony A Piazza & Laura A Simmons

Guiding People Through Divorce With Grace And Dignity For More Than 30 Years

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Cellphone Privacy Rights: Are My Phone’s Contents Discoverable In A Lawsuit Or Divorce?

We’ve all become so reliant on our smartphones that they’ve morphed into extensions of ourselves. While smartphones offer convenience, connection, entertainment, and more, it might be time to reflect on your cell phone usage if you’re looking at a Connecticut divorce. You likely use your phone for every manner of communication, including texting and social media. The information you choose to disseminate via your phone can play a role in your divorce.

Social Media: The Great Equalizer

You probably use social media, and you may be sharing more than you realize. While your phone provides you with ample ways to stay connected, it’s important to be especially conscious of your usage when you’re going through a divorce. Divorce is a highly stressful event that can make even the most cautious among us become impulsive. If you’re in the throes of divorce, it can help to take a step back and to pay attention to what you’re sharing via text or social media.

Divorce And Escalating Tensions

Even a divorce that begins amicably enough can devolve into something far more contentious. Assume that whatever you share on social media — no matter how “private” your settings — will get back to your spouse. While you may not be posting anything deliberately provocative, remember that tensions run high during a divorce and that you could inadvertently set your divorce on a downward spiral. Further, if you share anything that your spouse can twist into a weapon to use against you in the divorce process, he or she may try to do just that.

Cellphones And Affairs

If one spouse is having an affair, there is very likely evidence of this on his or her cellphone. While Connecticut is a no-fault divorce state, this does not mean that the court can’t factor in fault when it comes to finalizing certain issues in your divorce, such as spousal support or property division.

Admissibility

Information that you share on social media and texts and emails that you send via your cell phone may or may not be discoverable in your divorce (or another civil lawsuit). Whether electronic information culled from your phone is admissible depends upon four elemental factors: relevance, authenticity, hearsay rules, and original writing rules. Obviously, the question of admissibility is complicated, and if you’re facing a Connecticut divorce or civil lawsuit, you need an experienced divorce attorney. Suffice it to say, however, that prudence in all things social media and electronic communication is the best course to take when you’re going through a divorce.

Are Those Texts Admissible? Consult A Connecticut Divorce Lawyer Today

Several variables will control whether the contents of your phone are admissible in your divorce (or another lawsuit). The experienced divorce attorneys at the LAW OFFICES OF PIAZZA & SIMMONS, LLC, in Stamford, Connecticut, are here to help protect your best interests and to aggressively advocate for your right to privacy. We care about you and your case, so please contact us online or call us at 203-936-6772 today.