Technology is supposed to make our lives easier, but we don't always think how it can be used against us. In today's lifestyle we communicate on the go with text messages, emails, and even traveling tolls. And now just like phone recordings, all the above can be used as evidence in divorce court proceedings.

Many states in the U.S. allow text messages as evidence in court, but the messages must be proven authentic. Most of these states have "no fault" divorce systems where spouses do not need to prove any spousal misbehavior. Both spouses can petition to end the marriage without any evidence of wrong doings to end the union.

In other countries such as France, divorce had generally been a long process. If the couple did not mutually agree to the separation, then the burden of proof fell upon the spouses. One had to prove the other committed acts of adultery or other bad behaviors such as abuse.

Until 2004, French couples were forced to wait as long as 6 years until the divorce proceedings were finalized. But now couples can wait up to 2 years or more before their divorce can be finalized. In 2007 only half of the marriages registered in France ended in divorce, due to long proceedings.

Recently text messages have been allowed as evidence in court divorce cases. So any texts sent to a third party, for example a mistress, could be under review. The Supreme Court ruled in June that text messages will be allowed in these cases. This then overruled a 2007 ruling which stated that using "phone exchanges" was a breach of privacy. Text messages and emails have been allowed as proof in murder and other criminal trials in France previously.

A major wireless phone server in France called Orange said it is possible to retrieve phone messages 10 days after they are deleted. But a court order is needed before the company can release any information without the client's okay.

Email is also used as evidence in court proceedings. U.S.A Today states that people can install tracking programs on the computer as their own form of investigation if they suspect their spouse of any foul play. People might want to be careful and ere on the side of caution and one should assume nothing is private.

Electronic toll devices are other forms of evidence used in divorce cases. These devices are mounted inside a vehicles windshield and as the driver passes a toll, money is deducted from a pre-paid account.

The spouse in question's whereabouts can be determined by passing through a toll. So if they lied about their location, it can easily be detected thanks to modern technology. According to MSNBC, the state of Illinois received more than 30 subpoenas in the first half of 2009 for civil cases alone and this includes divorce.

Some states will provide information for criminal and divorce cases, provided a court order requests the information.

So in the end, it might be best to use discretion when communicating via text messaging and emails. With today's technology, someone is always watching and the evidence might be used against you in many cases like divorce [http://www.totaldivorce.com].