iPhone GPS app assists husband in uncovering wife's cheating

On behalf of Edwards & Associates posted in Divorce on Friday, October 28, 2011

The new iPhone may be having an impact on at least one divorce case. Recently, a suspicious husband utilized an iPhone 4S app to determine that his wife was cheating on him, and the app did confirm his suspicions.

He bought a new 4S iPhone for his wife, and loaded a "Find My Friends" app onto it. His wife later told him that she would be visiting a friend in a certain part of town. The app, however, which has a GPS function, showed him that she was actually in a different part of town, visiting a man with whom she was apparently having an affair.

The app he used is designed to assist in such things as keeping track of children, staying in touch with traveling companions, or being able to find friends in order to get together with them.

The husband had previously suspected that his wife had been meeting this other man, but had been unable to prove it. The iPhone app displays the location of an iPhone user's friends and family on an onscreen map.
The wife in this case had no idea that her husband had installed the app on her new iPhone, and therefore did not shut it off for privacy. Her husband sent texts to her at various times, and it became apparent to him that she was lying to him about her location.

Screen shots of the GPS maps of his wife's locations and of their back and forth texts could possibly be used as evidence in the divorce proceeding. However, obtaining evidence in this fashion can pose legal risks. Our readers may recall a story from last December, in which a man who accessed his wife's e-mail account in order to find out if she was having an affair faced criminal charges for doing so.

Source: The Christian Post, "iPhone 5 Release: iPhone 4S App Helps Man Catch Cheating Spouse," Fionna Agomuoh, Oct. 20, 2011

Ex-wife 'fries' her own claim for alimony with Facebook posts

On behalf of Edwards & Associates posted in Alimony on Tuesday, April 19, 2011

In the past, we have written about how common it is for Facebook evidence to be used in divorce cases. Statements made on Facebook and other internet sites often count as evidentiary admissions, which can be introduced in court to prove or refute a specific issue. A recent divorce case illustrates this principle in the context of an alimony claim.

The ex-wife requested lifetime alimony from her ex-husband. If she had her way, she would receive $850 per month for life. The basis for her claim was that she had been disabled in a car accident in 1997 and was unable to work.

In court, she claimed she could not work and was rarely able to leave home. If true, these facts could give her a plausible claim for alimony. After all, alimony is designed to help support an ex-spouse's standard of living after the marriage. If she could not work, then she would need help from her ex-husband.

However, the ex-wife had a belly-dancing hobby. She spent a few hours each day belly dancing at home and outside of her home. When she was not belly dancing, she spent a large amount of time writing about her belly dancing on the internet.

When a Facebook friend asked her why she wrote about belly dancing without ever posting pictures, she responded, "Gotta be careful what goes online, pookies. The ex would love to fry me with that."

Indeed, you do need to be careful what you post on the internet when you have a divorce case and a claim for alimony. However, her ex-husband did not need pictures of her belly dancing. The ex-wife's words were enough for her ex-husband to "fry" her claim for alimony. Her words alone showed that she was not disabled as she claimed.

The judge refused to give her lifetime alimony. Instead, she will receive alimony for only two years and at the reduced amount of $400 per month. The judge also awarded the husband 60 percent of the proceeds of the sale of their house and ordered her to pay thousands in attorney fees to compensate her ex-husband for the expense of defending against her unreasonable tactics.

Source: New York Post, "'Disabled' woman seeking alimony revealed to be belly dancer," Dareh Gregorian, 4/16/2011

Tags: Facebook, alimony, divorce, evidence