All articles·8 min read·April 24, 2026

Noticed something, and wondering what your own phone can show?

Maybe you have noticed something. A phone that never leaves their hand, a password that quietly changed, an account the two of you used to share.

We examine only a device you own. Before we start, you sign a form stating that you own it. If that statement is false, the evidence can become unusable in court. Reading or copying a partner's messages without permission can also break the federal and state laws listed below, and it can be used against you in the divorce.

What you can do instead is keep what is on your own phone and in your own accounts, and ask your lawyer about the lawful ways to reach the rest, such as discovery and subpoenas. Our guide to organizing evidence for a lawyer or police shows how to hand it over.

This guide explains what those digital signs can and cannot tell you, what you can document yourself without crossing a legal line, and how an examination of your own phone works when your lawyer needs one.

Start with the access rules below, because getting this wrong can sink your case before it begins.

Signs you may have noticed

These are things you see in daily life. None of them is a reason to open their phone.

Phone behavior changes. Phone always face-down. Notifications turned off in your presence. A password you used to know has changed.
Two-phone behavior. A second phone, work-only phone, or pre-paid burner you have not seen before.
Financial pattern shifts on accounts you share. Cash withdrawals you cannot account for, hotel charges during business trips, gift card purchases.
Calendar and travel changes. Increased "work travel" with vague venues, conferences that do not appear in any public registry, lost business expense receipts.
Social-media disengagement. Suddenly unfollowed, hidden, or muted on their public accounts. Stories suddenly closed to "Close Friends" only.
Shared family settings. They left shared photos or shared payment methods you are part of.

What an examination of your own phone can show

An examination looks at your own phone and the accounts you already use. It can document the messages you sent and received, including deleted ones the phone still holds, the sign-in history of your own accounts, and activity on shared accounts you already have access to. We do not promise a result. You get a written report on completion covering each device and each account you sent, whatever it shows.

What you can preserve from your own observation

Things you legally can document without invading their accounts:

Photos of charges on shared accounts you have legitimate access to
Screenshots of public social-media activity
Your own observations, dated, in a contemporaneous journal
Photos of physical items found in shared spaces (receipts, gifts, items not belonging to either of you)
Phone bills (if joint) showing call/text patterns

A screenshot is a start, though a screenshot and forensic evidence are not the same thing once a case is contested.

What NOT to do

Do not install monitoring software. Even on a "shared" device, this violates wiretapping laws in most US states and the federal Wiretap Act if it captures live communications.
Do not log into their accounts. Even if you know the password. Authorization, not knowledge of the password, is the legal test.
Do not factory-reset or "clean up" devices. If a divorce filing comes, opposing counsel will run forensic analysis. Anti-forensic activity creates a stronger spoliation case against you than the affair would have created against them.
Do not confront them with the digital evidence. Once they know what you know, they will wipe it. Talk to your attorney first.

What a forensic engagement actually does

Once you have an attorney engaged, the path forward is usually a combination of:

Forensic phone extraction of a phone you own, under the same rule as every examination we run
Subpoena-driven discovery means your attorney serves preservation letters and subpoenas to platforms (Apple, Google, dating apps, banks). Spoliation between preservation letter and production becomes a sanctions case.
Expert testimony means that at trial, an examiner documents how the evidence was collected, so your lawyer can authenticate it under FRE 901/902.

Infidelity digital forensics covers what an examination of a phone you own involves, step by step.

Cases we run

Digital forensics for divorce and family law is engaged through your attorney under attorney-work-product privilege. We do not work directly for spouses without counsel; the legal exposure is too high. When a matter needs licensed field work, we coordinate it through infidelity investigation coordination with a licensed Florida private investigator, never covert monitoring. SleuthX is a digital forensics firm. We are not a licensed private investigation agency, and our examiners are not licensed private investigators.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Talk to a licensed attorney about your specific situation.

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Suspected infidelity: frequent questions

Is it legal to look through my spouse's phone or accounts?

Usually not, even if you live together and even if you are still married. Accessing a spouse's accounts without permission can violate the federal Stored Communications Act and analogous state laws. Evidence collected through unauthorized access can be excluded at trial, and the spouse who accessed it can face civil liability or criminal charges. Authorization, not knowledge of the password, is the legal test. Talk to a divorce attorney before doing anything beyond observing your shared environment.

What digital signs are worth taking seriously?

A phone kept face-down and silenced around you, a password you used to know that has changed, a second phone you have not seen before, unexplained charges on accounts you share, more work travel with vague venues, and being dropped from shared family photos or payment methods. None of these alone proves anything. They are things you noticed, and what you can lawfully keep starts with your own phone and the accounts you already share.

What can I document myself without breaking the law?

Photos of charges on shared accounts you have legitimate access to, screenshots of public social media activity, your own observations recorded in a contemporaneous dated journal, photos of physical items found in shared spaces such as receipts and gifts, and joint phone bills in your name showing call and text patterns. Anything that requires logging into the spouse's accounts, even with a known password, is the line you do not cross.

What should I absolutely not do?

Do not install monitoring software on the spouse's device, even one you call shared. That can violate federal and state wiretapping laws if it captures live communications. Do not log into the spouse's accounts. Do not factory-reset or clean up devices. Anti-forensic activity creates a stronger spoliation case against you than the affair would have created against them. Do not confront the spouse with the digital evidence before counsel is engaged. Once they know what you know, they will wipe it, and the case becomes harder.

Why call a divorce attorney before a forensic examiner?

Because the engagement structure that protects the evidence is attorney-driven. When the attorney retains the forensic examiner under attorney-work-product privilege, findings remain protected through discovery in a way they would not be if you retained the examiner directly. The attorney also issues preservation letters and subpoenas that compel the other side and third-party platforms to preserve and produce. Forensic work without counsel routinely produces evidence the court will not consider, which is the worst possible outcome.

What can a forensic engagement actually find?

On a phone you own, a forensic examination documents the messages, app data and photos still on it, and deleted items the phone has not yet overwritten. Records held by the other side or by platforms like Apple, Google, dating apps and banks are reached through your attorney, by discovery and subpoena. The deliverable is a written report that records how the evidence was collected, so your lawyer can authenticate it. We do not promise a result, and forensics cannot replace counsel.

Is hiring a forensic examiner discreet?

Yes, when the engagement runs through counsel under attorney-work-product privilege. Communication routes through the attorney, billing routes through the attorney, and findings are written for counsel rather than for the client directly. That structure is the norm in family-law forensic work for exactly this reason. We do not work directly for spouses without counsel because the legal exposure on both sides is too high, and the evidence produced outside that structure is rarely useful in court.