Litigation

DIVORCE LAWYERS GOING HIGH TECH

By Mark P. Loftus, Esq.

The Chicago Sun Times had an interesting story today about a new investigation tool divorce lawyers are using - GPS trackers. The article, written by Frank Main, described how a weathly suburban man hid a GPS device on the family car. The device revealed that the wife dropped the kiddies off with her father[a convicted felon] then drove to a south side motel for some private time with her lover. Not just once, but 12 times!! In the course of the subsequent divorce case the husband confronted his wife with the evidence. Wifey acknowledged her sins and asked forgiveness.

The article notes that the devices are small enough to be concealed in a glove box or seat pocket. More importantly, as long as you own the vehicle, putting a GPS tracker on it is legal. The Spyzone link above shows how small the devices are and how easily they can be deposited in a car by a suspicious husband or wife.

As Illinois is a "no fault" state, incriminating GPS evidence typically does not effect the division of assets. The GPS data may however, have other uses. Evidence showing a spouse is running around may impact custody rulings. In addition, it can be used to show a spouse was draining assets from the household bank by spending money on a boyfriend or girlfriend.

Cheating hearts should look into rental cars.

Full post as published by Illinois Lawyer Blog on May 27, 2009 (boomark / email).