Divorce is difficult for everyone who goes through it. Things are especially difficult if you suspect that your spouse is having an affair. It is incredibly tempting to glance at your spouse’s emails or Facebook account in an effort to learn the truth or gather evidence, but be careful! Looking at email or Facebook without permission can get you in trouble with the judge on your divorce and law enforcement.
Infidelity destroys marriages. Once trust is lost, it is almost impossible to regain it. Only through honest and hard work on both sides and a significant amount of counseling can couples save their marriages. But what if you suspect your spouse is cheating, but he or she is not being honest?
An alarming number of adventures begin online. Facebook has become a hotbed of infidelity as old friends or out-of-town friends can reconnect. Add to that feelings of disconnection or disinterest in the marriage, cheating becomes a real possibility. Email enables long-distance communication that has the appearance of privacy. This allows people to explore relationships and taboos that they would not normally pursue.
If you think your spouse may be cheating on you, the evidence is likely on your computer. The temptation to take a look is almost overwhelming. And the evidence you get from inspecting email is often incredibly powerful in the courtroom. The problem is, accessing your spouse’s email or Facebook account could be a crime!
Current laws prohibit unauthorized access to someone else’s computer. These laws were intended to prevent hackers and others from accessing private information for criminal purposes, such as identity theft. Recently, some prosecutors have tried to expand them to include husbands who read their wives’ emails. Prosecutors regard this as the same type of invasion of privacy, regardless of whether the parties are married or not.
The law is not completely settled on this matter. The statutes as written have gaps or gray areas for husband / wife situations. Some prosecutors refuse to accept these types of cases. Some divorce judges are unfazed when they are presented with evidence obtained in this way. On the other hand, some prosecutors have nothing better to do than pursue these types of cases and some judges are furious when they discover that one of the parties has invaded the privacy of the other in this way.
The question to ask yourself is “is it worth the risk?” Usually the answer is no. There are other ways to achieve your goals. The easiest thing to do is take the computer in question to a computer expert and ask them to make a copy of the hard drive where suspicious emails are stored. This allows you to have a copy and avoids the destruction of possible evidence. You can then address the privacy issue with the help of an attorney and avoid accusations of invasion of privacy.
