A National Trend Hits Colorado Courtrooms: Texts, Location Data, and Social Media in Family Cases
By Attorney Charles E. Liken Jr., Colorado court-appointed Child and Family Investigator. What you post — and what your phone records — increasingly decide custody and support disputes. Colorado is no exception.
Charles E. Liken Jr., Esq. — On the Legal Front Lines · Former Government Investigator, Denver Human Services · Licensed Colorado Attorney · 20+ Years in Private Practice · Former Colorado Deputy District Attorney · Colorado Court-Appointed Child and Family Investigator
Across the country, family-court fights are being decided on digital evidence: text messages, social-media posts, shared-location histories, and the metadata behind them. Colorado courts are squarely part of the trend, and Colorado's domestic-relations disclosure rule (C.R.C.P. 16.2) requires full, honest disclosure of material information and mandatory financial disclosures, while additional discovery under C.R.C.P. 26 can reach relevant digital data such as messages and location history when the court allows it.
The lesson runs both ways. What you post can become an exhibit — a vacation photo undercutting a claim of poverty, an angry message reframed as a threat. And what the other side posts can be significant evidence in your case, if it's preserved correctly before it disappears.
An investigator's habit — get the records, all of them, and get them before they're gone — matters more every year. If your case might turn on digital evidence, the time to think about preservation is now, not after a hearing is set. A consultation is a good place to start.
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