Divorce In The Computer Age

Like it or not we live in an age of technology and that means computers are a part of our everyday life. If you are contemplating divorce, or in the midst of a divorce or custody battle, you should know that your computer can be your best friend or your worse nightmare. Your spouse may be able to access your computer and e-mail. You need to take precautions to protect where you have surfed and what you have downloaded. If not, when it comes time for court, You may having to explain a lot more than you think.

 

All too often, as you contemplate your future, you begin to search the internet for information on divorce, custody and law firms. As you plan quietly to learn as much as you can before starting a fight, you go to divorce site and then you download articles, just like this one, so you can review later.

 

Maybe with the decline of the marriage relationship, you have sought diversion through the internet...chatting with people and visiting sites that you would only visit in absolute private.

 

What you don’t know is that you are leaving a trail a mile wide for anyone, including your spouse, to see what you have been doing on the computer and where you have traveled in the vast ocean of internet information.

 

At the very least you need to cover your tracks by taking some easy steps to lessen unexpected revelations. For example, in Internet Explorer go to “Tools” and under the “Internet Option” tab delete temporary internet files and history. You must do this every time you are going to exit the program. Do not save a page as a “Favorite”.

 

E-mail has become the communication favorite of millions of people and companies, including lovers. It is sometimes possible that a lawyer can subpoena the e-mail provider’s records and you may be defending embarrassing statements, and pictures. One way to avoid this is to read your e-mail often, then delete and go into the delete folder and delete the message. This two step process also applies to the sent folder.

 

Chat rooms are another dangerous area. The person on the other end, who you think at the moment, is a friend, maybe copying and saving your chat. Worse yet, that anonymous person you are talking to might not really be the stranger that you think they are.

 

You might also consider purchasing Virus Protection software that thoroughly scans for monitoring programs that could have secretly been installed on your computer and which make regular reports back to the person spying on you.

 

It is very unfortunate when you find yourself at the verge of dissolving your marriage, but you should not go into it having added issues that could be used against you.

The Spalding Partnership, LLP

16401 Swingley Ridge Road

Suite 110

Chesterfield, Missouri 63017

 

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