Screen Cap App for Texts Related to Custody Matters

These days it seems like there’s an app for everything. In fact, most people have the ability to do nearly anything from their smart phones. So what about an app to help you enforce your child custody parenting plan? Believe it or not an app can help with that as well.

If you have a smart phone and you are a parent who shares parenting time with a child pursuant to a parenting plan, you have no doubt communicated with the other parent using text messages. For most parents, this method of communication is simply too convenient not to use.

Although it does create a written record, using text messages to communicate new or different arrangements regarding a visitation schedule or parenting situation can be an unsafe and imperfect method. If evidence of a communication between parents is within a text message, locating a single text weeks or even months later if necessary can be difficult, frustrating and a waste of time. Imagine sitting in a custody hearing and scrolling through your text messages while your lawyer and a judge wait on you to find the text where the other parent agreed to a change in parenting time. What is worse, smart phones may delete text messages at a predetermined interval or when they run out of space and need to create more. In that instance you might lose the evidence forever. Further, some courthouses do not allow the public to bring cell phones into the courthouse facility.

The benefit of the app

So what are you to do when you need to save a text as evidence of an agreement regarding parenting arrangements? Well, one solution is to use a screen capture app. Most screen capture or “screen cap” apps allow you to essentially take a photo of what is on your phone’s screen, preserving it and allowing you to transfer it to others or even print it out if necessary. They are simple to use, inexpensive (sometimes even free) and ensure you have the ability to save the information to a computer or print it for a record in the event there is ever a question.

So, spend one dollar in the app store, get a screen capture app and obtain some piece of mind that if you agree to something in text, not only do you have a record of it, you can make sure your lawyer can hold the other party to it.

If you need assistance with or have questions about divorce, child custody, child support or other family law issues, please call Josh at 615-444-7222 or email him at jrobbins@lowerylaw.com.