Can Text Messages Prove Adultery in Greenville, SC?

Adultery has always been on to the top reasons for divorce, but it seems increasingly difficult to prove adultery in court. How can you establish adultery in a divorce case in Greenville, SC?

Perhaps you’ve seen some text messages or have heard rumors through your close circle of friends. But could you file for divorce on these grounds? If no one has seen the affair in progress, you might have a hard time not only filing for divorce but proving the affair at all. To establish a fault-based divorce for adultery you need hard proof, and text messages can do that.

Starting an Adultery Claim in Greenville SC

What you’re seeking to do is establish an adultery claim for a fault-based divorce. In Greenville, South Carolina you need to prove 2 specific elements:

• Prove that your significant other has reason or motive for an affair.
• Prove that your significant other had the opportunity to carry on an affair.

Text messages are the ultimate insight into our private lives that even our spouse doesn’t see. So, if your significant other is hiding anything from you, odds are the proof is in the text messages. Speak with a divorce lawyer to find out how subpoenaing text messages can seal the deal on your divorce case.

To start an adultery claim, contact a divorce lawyer in Greenville SC today, and they can begin the process of subpoenaing text messages for your case.

Who Has to Prove Adultery?

If you’re the one who is starting a claim or seeking to get a divorce with adultery as the grounds for divorce, you have the burden of proof. The most commonly referred view on the burden of proof for adultery is that the proof must be clear, and you must establish infidelity through evidence.

In other words, you have to show that it is more likely than not, that your spouse committed adulterous acts. You can’t rely on hearsay within a friend’s circle or rumors at their workplace.

You need to show hard evidence that they have a reason, and an opportunity to carry on some form of an affair. In Greenville, South Carolina a divorce lawyer can help you in proving adultery by subpoenaing text messages.

There’s no need for hard evidence any longer within the family court system. You don’t need to hire a private investigator to follow your spouse around and take potentially damning photos.

What Happens if I Prove Adultery?

Many factors affect your divorce proceeding if you can prove adultery. A divorce lawyer can help you understand how each of these aspects affects you directly. However, these are the overarching effects:

• No Alimony – If a spouse committed adultery they no longer are eligible to receive alimony. This restriction from alimony also covers periods of separation. If you and your spouse lived separately, any adulterous acts in that time frame would bar them from alimony as well.
• No Waiting Period – You would no longer have to wait through the one-year separation period that occurs in a standard no-fault divorce.
• Less Marital Property Under Specific Conditions – If you found that the spouse who committed adultery spent money, in any form, on their paramour the estimated amount can be deducted from their marital property. Most commonly, people in a marriage purchase gifts for their paramour through shared financial means, which results in the not-at-fault spouse receiving reimbursement for a portion of that money.

More Likely Than Not

There are 2 ways to determine adultery during a divorce filing: the spouse likely engaged in sexual acts, or the spouse engaged in romantic acts. You just have to prove that your spouse, more likely than not, committed either of the acts above.

With the growing space that the internet fills in our lives, many people, already in relationships, are found seeking romantic relationships online believing there is no consequence. Emotional affairs are new to everyone including the court system. However, if there was an intention to carry on an affair, you don’t have to prove that sexual acts took place.

On the other hand, the act of casual sex equally counts as an affair. If your spouse sought out short-term companionship, you could utilize their digital exchanges to show that illicit acts occurred.

Technology makes it easy for anyone to cheat, however with the help of a divorce lawyer you can use that technology to your advantage too. Subpoenaing text messages is a big step in gaining insight into your spouse’s discretions.

Contact an Attorney

You need an experienced divorce lawyer in Greenville, SC to help you prove adultery in your claim. Contact the Greenville Family Law Office to speak with an attorney today. A dedicated divorce lawyer can help you in subpoenaing text messages to prove that your spouse likely committed acts of adultery. Call our offices or complete our online contact form!