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Have learned a lot about documenting by trial and error but in the end my atty has told me my documentation is "excellent" so here are some tips:

~ Once I moved to Plan D and started getting the documentation organized, dealing with the texts were a nightmare. STBX sent so many texts (learned this after the fact) that my IM went over on her plan a couple of months and even had to start erasing some due to not having enough memory on her phone. They are harder to save, print, transfer, catalog. Having your IM use a designated email account for communications with WS is much much better.

Speaking of that designated email account, I have a couple different email accounts and gmail seems to be the easiest and there's no limit in how far back you can access the emails - so that's the one I would recommend to setup for your IM.

~ An MBer who has been through Plan D told me to document an event by writing it in an email to yourself. It will have the date and time stamped on it. Create a special folder in your email program to save these emails. I have also documented events by outlining what happened to the atty and putting into the same folder. She said this is also considered documentation (thought it might not be useable due to atty/client privilege but she said its OK).

~ Calendar recording visitation with the WS...I print off the visitation calendar twice, showing the "scheduled" visitations, stapling them together. I document on the first page basic information, if there was a cancellation, change made, the time they were dropped off, etc. On the second page, I use the same date for annotations. Ex) DD said STBX and OW fighting, see email to atty dated 3/18. I had to create a timeline of all the changes STBX has made for my lawyer and using this setup made it very easy.

~ Legal accordion folder, get one of these early on and just start filing things away. I have everything from financial records, timelines, court documents, copies of letters from STBX's lawyer to my lawyer, visitation records all in here. I have taken this to court and to lawyers' meetings and whipped out documents w/n seconds. Not to mention, it helps to calm your nerves to feel prepared.

~ Lawyers...another MBer who has been through D told me to do this, and I didn't follow through and am kicking myself now. Keep a log of all phone calls, meetings (length of time), emails, etc to compare to billing later. Her example was that her atty kept her waiting 20 mins at his office or something but then later charged her for that time which she, of course, disputed. I just got a lengthy bill and wish I had kept the log so that it would be easier for me to verify each line item...

~ iPhone & other apps/tools
Can't speak to other smartphones/apps but these together have just made my life very easy re documentation & preparing for court. If you take pictures (like of WS's car at OP's house), you can upload them to the Photobucket app, and it will have the time stamp on it and will save your picture in a third party location so that you don't have to worry about it being accidentally deleted. You can also do this with screenshots of things like FB postings or texting threads (you do this by pressing the home button and the wake button at the same time) I have done this with texts between my DD and myself when she is complaining about something going on with her father and OW.

I am madly in love with my HP wireless printer! How did I live without this? You can wireless print EVERYTHING (document, emails, pictures, texts) from your iPhone. I have the model that is also a fax & copy machine but I believe you can get some models without these extras in the low 100 range.

CamScanner is a nice app as well, it basically turns your iPhone into a scanner by taking a picture of a document and adjusting the light levels and converting into a PDF format.

HTH!!

Some Q-tips !!!

For iPhone, iPad and iMac users....

Just started using an app that I am crazy about, Day One journal. I am using it now to document everything that happens with my ex and his OW4 with their visitations with the kids.

It is basically a Facebook-like platform for journaling/documenting with a timeline and calendar view. You can attach pictures, sync through Dropbox, print entries, add links, export entries out through email (good if you want an official time stamp). It is very easy to use.

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Not only did I document everything, but I also held onto my WW's passport and the children's passports.

She was having an affair with a guy overseas, and I didn't want her to flee there with the children.

Boy, when she found out I had her passport, her wayward head nearly exploded

This comment was made on another thread by a BH in response to posters asking he had documented incident/s regarding his WW and their child:



This lawyer addresses ramifications of actions by divorcing parents even in "no fault" states with regards to custody (go to link to see full video):



Read more: http://www.myfoxla.com/story/218229...bfore-the-divorce-is-final#ixzz2PF6SYWMS

Good bump.

In Plan B you need to change your number so you don't get text messages. Your IM can save all messages they get.