They’ve been around since the beginning of time. Divorces, child custody battles and fights about who gets what when a couple splits are some of the oldest conflicts known to man. As such, we don’t generally think of the area of family law as a very tech-savvy field. It’s one that sticks to the tried and true methods that have worked for ages, right?
Not so much. With the arrival of the information age, the resolution of family law issues has taken a step into the future. More and more attorneys are adopting this new form of evidence gathering as a way to bolster their cases in alimony negotiations. Say, for instance that a spouse is paying alimony to an ex, but has suspicions that he or she is in a situation of cohabitation. If that’s the case, it could be cause for termination of the alimony, but a court would need solid proof.
Attorneys would normally hire a private investigator to tail the person and determine if they were living with someone. Now, with access to cell tower location data, the lawyer has compelling evidence of their living arrangements. Various cases have also used social media and other Internet data in the discovery process to solidify their case.
Of course, not all courts are as keen on the idea as others, so even the most technologically advanced firm would do well to marry both traditional methods and new ones to build a strong case.
Whether you’re seeking alimony or contesting it, a New Jersey attorney may be able to help you work out a fair deal via mediation or through the court system.
Source: huffingtonpost.com, “How to Identify the Trend-Setting Professionals Paving New Ways to Support Termination of Alimony Claims,” Diane L. Danois, May 18, 2014