New York Divorce Report - New York's Divorce and Family Law Blog

The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers issued a recommendation that people going through or contemplating divorce stay off Facebook and other social networking sites. As reported in the Arizona Divorce and Family Blog: "Going through a divorce always results in heightened levels of personal scrutiny. If you publicly post any contradictions to previously made statements and promises, an estranged spouse will certainly be one of the first people to notice and make use of that evidence," said Marlene Eskind Moses, president of the AAML. "As everyone continues to share more and more aspects of their lives on social networking sites,... More

When one spouse suspects the other of having an affair, the knee jerk reaction is to hire a private detective to get the"smoking gun.” It is permissible to hire a detective to “snoop around” even when the spouse having the affair has an obtained an order of protection against the other. “The hiring of a professional licensed private investigator in a matrimonial action to gather evidence is for a proper and legitimate purpose.”   Anonymous v Anonymous According to the Court opinon: The husband had the right to gather evidence up to the date of trial in defense of the... More

In case that seems to be splitting hairs, a judge ruled that emails culled by a wife from her husband’s on-line account did not constitute eavesdropping and were, therefore, admissible at trial. Had the emails been intercepted while “in transit” to the husband, the wife would have guilty of eavesdropping under Penal Law Sec. 250.00. The law prevents individuals from intercepting a communication, like an email, going from one person to another. In the case, Gurevich v. Gurveich, (subscription required) the wife had her husband’s email account passwords, and accessed his account. By doing so she was able to obtain... More