Multi-State Divorce & Family Law Blog by Stange Law Firm, PC

Below is a summary on best practices for authenticating, presenting and disputing digital evidence in court.  This summary includes some relevant statutes and applicable case law. These are just some examples of reported cases on this topic. Considering that the facts of every circumstance is different, it is important to consult with an attorney regarding any particular circumstance. However, this summary does help provide some important information on the admission of digital evidence. a. Applicability of Federal Rules of Evidence to ESI Issues and laws regarding family law are generally state-specific. Still, the Federal Rules of Evidence are often mirrored

So your former spouse is in a new relationship?  If you are paying your ex maintenance, also known as alimony in some states, there is no reason for your ex to remarry and, as a matter of fact, it gives your ex every reason not to remarry, if he or she wants to continue to take your money. In order to terminate maintenance based on allegations of cohabitation, a showing of more than just living together is required in most states. This is complicated to say the least. For cohabitation to be sufficient to reduce or terminate maintenance, it must

Joint physical custody is becoming more and more the norm in today’s society. Since no one parent has primary custody of the child and since the child usually spends half the week living one lifestyle and half another, technology management may seem impossible. It is often said that co-parenting with an ex and managing technology use in children are two of the greatest challenges in the modern parenting world. Also, research indicates that technology use for children can be addictive. When there is no primary parent in charge, a child can be living in an ongoing cycle of addiction and

Use of Computer Forensic Experts in Divorce & Family Law In many family law matters, social media evidence and electronically stored information can become critical in a family law case.  For example, financial information regarding income, marital property and debt may all be stored electronically.  In other cases, valuable evidence can also be found on social media relative to child custody.  For this reason, a party may need to consider hiring a computer forensic expert in their divorce or family law matter. Below are some of the pros and cons to hiring a computer forensic expert: The Pros: The advantages

Email & Text Message Evidence in Litigation Kirk C. Stange * Special thanks to Alicia Kapolis and Primrose Mungwari for helping prepare these materials. Court Rules Many computer and electronic discovery issues are covered by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. However, it is also vital to check state and local rules of civil procedure. Below are various applicable Federal Rules of Civil Procedure: Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Fed. R. Civ. P. 1001(1) – Writings and recordings include computers and photographic systems. Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1)(C)– Obligates parties to provide opponents with copies of or descriptions of documents,

The conventional ways to obtain information in divorce and family law proceedings are well known: (1) Interrogatories; (2) Requests for Production; and (3) Depositions. Typically, interrogatories are aimed at gathering initial information and facts of the case that the opposing party could not recall without reference to particular documents. Interrogatories in conjunction with Requests for Production then serve to produce the traditional sources of information for a divorce or family law attorney.  Traditional staples include: (1) Bank Statements; (2) Individual Tax Returns; (3) Corporate or Partnership Tax Returns; (4) Mortgage Statements; (5) Rental or Lease Agreements; and (6) Telephone Records.

Email & Text Message Evidence in Litigation Kirk C. Stange * Special thanks to Alicia Kapolis and Primrose Mungwari for helping prepare these materials. Court Rules Many computer and electronic discovery issues are covered by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. However, it is also vital to check state and local rules of civil procedure. Below are various applicable Federal Rules of Civil Procedure: Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Fed. R. Civ. P. 1001(1) – Writings and recordings include computers and photographic systems. Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1)(C)– Obligates parties to provide opponents with copies of or descriptions of documents,

There are lots of non-traditional sources of electronic and social media evidence that can be important to a divorce or family law case. Do you suspect your spouse of having an affair? Do you suspect that your spouse is using marital resources on prostitutes or gambling? There are ways of getting ample ESI relative to these areas. One source that you might be missing is that of dating websites. These sites not only send email notifications to users, but can also send text messages and may use other applications, such as Facebook, to allow users access to updates. These sites

No one says “I Do” while thinking the marriage won’t last but, unfortunately, statistics show that divorce is the result for at least three couples out of every 1,000 who marry. Although Fox News reports that the U.S. divorce rate steadily decreased from 4.0 per 1,000 in 2000 to 3.6 in 2011, the numbers demonstrate that not every marriage is permanent.Getting a divorce is a difficult time in general. It’s hard to reconcile yourself to the thought that the person you once trusted most is now someone you need to be cautious of. As Jennifer Wallis, the Vice President of