Forensics Secures Evidence in Your Family Law Case
Increasingly, we live much of our lives online. This means you could find evidence in your PC or Mac computer, cell phone, social media, email, and more. Frequently, these sources of electronically stored information are determinative in family law court hearings and trials. For this reason, computer forensics is key to securing electronic evidence for any family law case.
Below is a more extensive list of the areas of Family Law where we assist our clients, along with general information about the evidence types you might find in electronic devices and accounts.
Annulment
- Emails or chat messages showing misrepresentation by one party.
- Social media postings could show that one party lacked mental capacity at the time of the marriage.
Business Valuation
- Fraudulent or Hidden Data found on the computer hard drive or backups.
- Under-valuation of the business demonstrated on spreadsheets and financial software.
Child Custody and Visitation
- Activities, Schedules and Significant Quality Time with Children
- Parent and Children Relationships
- Parenting Skills and Discipline of the Parents
- Physical and Mental Issues of the Parents
- Alcohol or Drug Abuse of Parents
- Domestic Violence, Abuse, and Neglect
- Family, Relatives, and Witness for Child Custody Cases
- Experts for Child Custody Cases
- Information on Social Networks
Child Support
While state child support calculators and state child support enforcement agencies help with determinations and enforcement, you may need to look to other resources to argue for increased child support. For example,
- Medical and school records revealing a child’s greater needs;
- Tax and employment records on the computer to prove the income of the non-custodial parent; or
- Social media postings to show the child’s standard of living pre-divorce.
Domestic Violence
Where there are allegations of domestic violence, children and the abused spouse will need to do everything possible to separate as safely as possible. Thus, the evidence is key is for a protective order, custody modifications, and more. Common places our computer forensics can support this include:
- Chat and text history showing a pattern and history of emotional abuse,
- Computer or phone logs can reveal technology abuse by one partner trying to monitor and control the abused spouse,
- Deleted computer files could lead to hidden assets.
Post Divorce Issues
Custody or spousal modifications could result from new evidence showing:
- Hidden assets,
- Undervalued business ownership, or even
- Child abuse.
Prenuptial Agreements
If a prenuptial agreement is unclear or was created based on misrepresentations, computer files, emails, and other documents could provide the clarity needed to enforce or nullify a prenup.
Property Division
In family law cases, we frequently find evidence on Computers, Cell Phones, Email, and Online Data that help with property division settlements. For example,
- The accurate valuation of marital assets, including real property, investments, and hidden bank accounts;
- Details about marital debts, including mortgages, line of credits, credit cards, and loans;
- Income tax Issues.
Separation
Chats, emails, and other communications could reveal the true date of separation, which can impact property or support awards.
Spousal Support (Alimony)
- Military Pensions, Benefits, and Issues
- Tax Return Information and Schedules
Read more here: Family Law FAQs