Do I Need to Gather My Own Evidence During a North Carolina Divorce?

Some spouses are content to delegate all legal tasks to their divorce lawyers, while others want to take a more proactive approach. Regardless of where you stand, you might be curious about collecting your own evidence during this process. All spouses can take certain steps when preparing evidence for a divorce. Some might choose to allocate more time to evidence gathering than others, and your attorney can certainly help. What type of evidence might be useful, and how should you go about collecting it?

While being proactive is always a positive thing during divorce, gathering evidence on your own could be risky. Before you start collecting evidence, you might want to review North Carolina’s laws on cybersecurity, wiretapping, and stalking. If you violate any of these laws while collecting evidence, the evidence could become inadmissible in court. Not only that, but you could also face criminal charges for violating the law.

For example, you might try to hack into your ex’s computer or phone to find evidence of adultery or asset concealment. Authorities would likely see this as a cybercrime, and you might face charges as a result. Even if you manage to escape criminal charges, your ex’s attorney could point out that you accessed the files illegally. As a result, the judge will probably exclude them. The same logic applies to stalking and recording certain conversations.

You should know that you do not necessarily need to become a detective simply to gather evidence in preparation for a divorce. Instead, you can rely on the “discovery” pre-trial phase. According to the rules of discovery, you can ask your ex and their lawyers to provide any evidence that might be relevant to the upcoming trial. This might include financial documents, text messages, emails, and much more.

As long as the evidence is relevant to your divorce, your ex might have no choice but to provide it. If they refuse, you can force them to do so by filing a motion in court.

All spouses should be able to gather certain types of documents before their first consultation with a lawyer. For example, you can gather your tax returns over the past few years. You might also prepare credit card statements, bank statements, stock portfolio statements, and retirement account statements. Note that if you can collect your ex’s tax information, this might also be extremely helpful as you approach divorce.

For a full list of documents that might be helpful, contact an experienced divorce lawyer. They will tell you which documents to bring to your consultation. Adequate preparation should help you get the most out of this initial meeting.

Although accessing your ex’s phone or computer without their permission is strictly off limits, there is nothing wrong with taking screenshots of their social media posts. If you see a post that might give you some kind of advantage during your divorce, do not hesitate to screenshot it. Because these posts are public, your ex has no expectation of privacy, and you are free to screenshot the posts without legal consequences. This has become one of the most effective strategies for modern divorces, and it is often overlooked by both attorneys and spouses.

For example, your spouse might post a picture with marijuana paraphernalia. Perhaps they will unwittingly post evidence that they drove drunk. Maybe one of their social media posts raises questions about their parenting abilities. Whatever the case may be, you can present this evidence in court to potentially gain an advantage.

Note that you can also screenshot text messages, emails, and other digital evidence. Although you might assume that this evidence will be around forever to access, your ex could delete it later. This highlights the need to take screenshots as soon as possible.

If you are serious about gathering evidence, you can discuss the next steps with an experienced divorce attorney in North Carolina. Various types of evidence could be helpful, but it all depends on your unique goals and priorities. Some evidence is relatively easy to gather, and you can prepare these documents before your first consultation with a divorce lawyer. In other cases, it might be difficult or even risky to gather certain evidence. Speak about your unique situation in more detail with Arnold & Smith, PLLC.