If I need documentation to show that a situation existed (such as that ExWH and I were living together as husband and wife, before the affair and divorce), would message board posts from a parenting type board where I talk of my "DH" be admissible?

If so, what do I need to copy and paste to do so.

I tried copy and paste just the post, but I could have typed that in anytime. If include the link from the page, will that do? Or is there a screen shot I can use.

Or am I just barking up the wrong tree.

I don't see how posts you made would be "proof" of this.

If you're attempting to prove your H is lying about this, then the only way it might be considered "proof" is if your H made the posts, and he admitted in court that he did so.

But if these are posts you made describing the situation in the past, and you're attempting to use these as "proof" that you were married then...I don't see how it could be considered proof...it could just all be something you made up anticipating this situation.

As far as posts being admissable in court...I would think the only way that they would hold any value would be if the poster ADMITTED to making the posts in front of the court.

Make sense?

You're barking up the wrong tree. In fact, I don't think you've even made it to the forest. I'm sorry.

You would need actual proof of living together, such as bills addressed to your H at a shared address. That's documentation. Think paper, not pixels.

Remember, anyone can say anything on a forum/site. The act of posting doesn't make it true. Evidence needs to be able to pass the reality test.

Good luck. I'm sure you can find something.

Thanks guys, I figured it wouldn't hold up but I wanted confirmation.

My lawyer said to look for pics of us together, but one of us was always holding the camera! So I will enlist family to see if anyone took pics of us together during the period in question.

Oh, and for clarification, the posts I was thinking of were posts that I made during the time period in question. Not like here where my marriage is discussed in past tense.

For example, on a mothering board, there are posts where I am casually mentioning the daily life of DH, myself and the children. I thought if I showed that these were made in the years in question, that would hold some weight.

But you are right, I could have made up my happy family to fool people discussing cloth vs disposable diapers.

Oh well, on to digging through more stuff.

Though you probably can't use posts in court, you may want a record of them for your files, as a sort of journal.

You could always come here to read them, of course, but if you want a copy with the correct dates and stuff for your own computer, first display the thread in "all" pages, then hit the print button and select the "save as pdf" option. That's on a Mac, but I can't imagine PCs don't have a similar print menu option.

-ol 2long

You can testify about pictures that you took yourself. So a picture of your WH that YOU took is admissable.

A picture someone else took is heresay unless that person is there to testify that they took the picture. You being in it and talking about it isn't enough. The picture itself in not admissable because you didn't take it and it is therefore heresay.

The law is whacky like that. You can testify that you were there and that a picture was taken, but can't testify to a picture you yourself didn't take.

Believe me, I admitted a picture in my case and was grilled about when I took it, the date, time, weather conditions, and all kinds of ridiculous stuff.

So a picture you took of WH is admissable and not a bad thing to use.

Dam, I hope posts aren't admissible! lol....

Testimony from neighbors and family members? Signed affidavits?

Posts ARE admissible as long as they can be authenticated. The TRUTH of the posts is another matter. As a paralegal I busted this lady one time with her posts. She had been claiming a neurological injury as a result of a car accident. We represented the insurance company.

I went on a hunt on the internet and found some posts to a neurologist by a screen name that sounded pretty close to our plaintiff. I asked her in interrogatories to list any email addresses she had used in the last five years. Sure enough, one of the email addresses was the one in the post I found. Then at her deposition we questioned her about the post and she admitted she had made them.

Her problem though, was that she posted the very same symptoms and complaints THREE YEARS PRIOR to her accident, that she was now trying to claim were caused by the accident. This was a bump in the parking lot type of accident.

So, that's a case where an author's posts were admissible after they were authenticated.

In your case though, trying to prove a FACT by posts that you made back then wouldn't help you much because the whole point is that you're trying to prove the truth of the facts based on the statements you made back then. But then again, in a civil court, you're only required to prove a preponderence of the evidence, not 100%.

I'd be very careful about posts and what not.

My sister's e-mails and texts to her SIL were discovered and brought up against SIL in divorce / custody battle. Slimy attorney used those to prove the SIL was not fit to have custody of the children. My sister feels horrible, but the SIL is partly to blame also.

Rule of thumb, be very careful what you write, what you post, what you text and even what you say over the phone. Heck, be careful what you say in person...never know when someone wearing a wire.

Speaking of wires...I should probably put voice recorder in WW's vehicle. Thanks for reminding me

"Emails" and "texts" are WAY easier to prove than "posts" on an anonymous message board like MB. The trick is to not give TMI where people would be able to identify you, if you don't want to be known.

Personally, I don't care WHO reads my stuff or knows it me, but I can see how it could effect a ongoing litigation. I think we have a couple of posters who HAVE had their posts used against them.