It can be very easy for a guy in the heat of a custody or parenting time dispute with the mom of his child to express his anger in the form of a text message or series of text messages.
While for some reason people naturally think of text messages as somewhat anonymous and here today, gone tomorrow, they are in fact permanent written records that can be saved. More importantly, the rules of evidence in Nebraska contemplate that they are fully admissible in court.
Although whether a particular text exchange is admissible as evidence in a paternity and custody dispute is really a question best answered by an attorney who is familiar with how the family courts in Omaha work, generally speaking, it does not take a lot someone to admit a text message.
For instance, it is very hard for someone who may feel a bit embarrassed by a text message to hide behind the possibility that someone else could have composed or altered it in some way. If the other side can tie to the text to a man’s phone number, it generally will pass that hurdle for admissibility.
The upshot of all of this is that men need to be very careful about what they put in text messages, as judges will likely frown on giving custody or liberal parenting time to a man whose texts show he is rude, immature, irresponsible or cannot control his temper. Generally speaking, a guy should assume anything he texts will eventually be read by the judge deciding his case. The same rule applies to emails, social media posts and the like.
On the other hand, the converse is also true. A well-prepared father will take careful note of and document those texts his ex-girlfriend sends to him.