Using Social Network Evidence in Family Court

Using Social Network Evidence in Family Court

The use of electronically stored information as evidence in family law litigation has increased dramatically. Electronically stored information is defined as "information created, manipulated, communicated, stored, and best utilized in digital form, requiring the use of computer hardware and software." The most common forms of this type of evidence include e-mails, voice mails, text messages and, very significantly, information from social networking sites. Because of the proliferation of this type of information, the family law attorney needs to be familiar with the availability of this type of evidence as well as the rules governing its admissibility.