What is Evidence Collection for Divorce Cases?
Evidence Collection for Divorce Cases is the process of obtaining any information or document to be submitted to any judicial body to provide advantage to your party for the final decision to be given by the court in divorce cases filed to legally end a marriage.
Why is a Divorce Case Filed?
Divorce is as natural as the conjugal union in the normal flow of life. Divorce cases have increased significantly in recent years particularly due to the social degeneration in our country, deterioration of the economic conditions of families due to various reasons and disruption of the love and respect between spouses due to any reason. Marriage and divorce are processes that have taken place since the existence of humanity.
Multiple reasons are decisive in the realization of divorce and submitting real evidence can cause the divorce case to be concluded more quickly and in favor of one of the parties. There is no doubt that concluding a marriage not going normally, with a divorce case will be better for both parties. Marriage will become unbearable if spouses that do not get along stay together and may cause spouses to do irreparable behaviors to each other. Divorce will be the best choice in such a case.
Article 166 of the Civil Code- Any of the spouses may file a divorce case if the marriage is broken down to the extent that they cannot be expected to continue a common life.
However, although attitudes and behaviors go well during marriage, spouses have different attitudes when a divorce case comes up and persons who were selfless previously during their relationship may become extremely selfish in a divorce case. Therefore, a case that starts as an uncontested divorce case may later turn into a contested divorce case due to disputes.
How is a Divorce Case Filed?
Marriages can only be ended through court decision by filing an uncontested or contested divorce case if there are legal reasons for divorce.
The method for filing a divorce case depends on whether an uncontested or contested divorce case is preferred. However, both kinds of divorce cases are filed at a Family Court.
Article 167 of the Turkish Civil Code numbered 4721 states that “In divorce cases, the court with jurisdiction is the court located at the residence of one of the spouses or the place where they last resided together for six months before the lawsuit.” In any event, as contested divorce cases in particular are filed through lawyers, your lawyer will help you on these matters and arrange the documents of the divorce case you will file. This is the outline you should know on this issue. If you have reached the stage of a divorce case, you should be aware of the benefits you can gain from the divorce. Another very important thing that you should be aware of is the issues after the divorce case.
Article 178- Lawsuit rights arising from ending of the marriage with divorce become time-barred after one year following the finalization of the divorce ruling.
As can be understood from the law article, do not forget that even if the divorce case is completed and the final ruling is given, you are entitled to receive divorce award within one year after the divorce case. Then our office can find evidence for you to file a lawsuit for divorce award such that you can regain the rights you could not during the divorce case.
Importance of Evidence Collection in a Divorce Case
Evidence collection is another important matter in divorce cases. Available or findable evidence can change the course of your case. However, the important point to be careful in this process is not to violate the right of privacy. A private investigator collecting evidence for a divorce case should be very qualified in his job, otherwise, violating the legal boundaries in this matter will give you harm rather than benefit.
Evidence you provide to your lawyer or obtained by your lawyer will strengthen his/her hand and ensure than you win the case. Documents such as photos, phone messages, social media messaging, shared photos, hotel records, receipts and invoices, credit card statements etc. that you obtain during the process of evidence collection in a divorce case are very important evidences for spouses. However, the evidence you obtain in the process of evidence collection in a divorce case become strong with the aid of lawyers and your chance of success is quite law in individual defense.
Benefits of a Private Investigator in a Divorce Case
Contested divorce cases are the type of divorce cases where private investigators are most often involved. Private investigation services are very important for those who have no evidence or unable prove their claim even though they are right. Divorce has many causes in civil law. These include adultery, defamatory behavior, abandonment etc., some of which you experience in person; however, it is natural for you to be unaware of certain things such as adultery, which you can become aware of through private investigators who investigate the existence of such an incident on your behalf.
Article 252- In the event of divorce due to adultery or attempted manslaughter, the judge may decide to equitably reduce or eliminate the share of the faulty spouse.
As can be understood from the relevant wording of the law, if you can detect the adultery of your spouse, the divorce case will suddenly turn into your favor even if the case is contested. You will gain benefit by meeting with Fox Private Investigation, which has experience and know-how on conducting investigations to detecting adultery.
Article 236- All spouses or their inheritors become entitled to half of the residual value owned by the other spouse. Receivables get exchanged. In the event of divorce due to adultery or attempted manslaughter, the judge may decide to equitably reduce or eliminate the ratio of share in the residual value of the faulty spouse.
“Evidence should make its user or beneficiary experience the past right now. Things that are evident right now and shed light on the past are not evidence.”
Evidence obtained by our private investigators with diligence and difficulty have the chance to turn against you if not used duly. Evidences are presented in the hearing and thus provide benefit to the person presenting the evidence.
Evidence we obtain through evidence collection in divorce cases should not be shared with third parties, there is a Court of Cassation decision on this matter.
How Do We Collect Evidence in Divorce Cases?
We prefer to discuss this matter in our office as in all issues. When you visit our office for this and provide us the necessary information about the matter, our expert investigators asses the incident related to the task to be performed and draw up a roadmap. We investigate the issue through two expert private investigators. We then pick out the data that could be considered as evidence in divorce cases from among the information and documents collected by our private investigators on the field and share them with you or your assigned lawyer. We then destroy all the remaining information and documents concerning the divorce case in our possession.
As Fox Private Investigation we offer major advantages in both potential divorce cases and your ongoing divorce cases by collecting evidence that will strengthen your case in both the divorce award and in the division of property.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are divorce evidences?
Legal evidences must be presented in the case to prove the claims or the defenses. Proofs can be made with evidences that do not violate privacy and not constitute a crime. Phone records, message records, photos, hotel records, camera footages can be used.
What are the evidences in contested divorce cases?
Proof is possible through all legal evidences. The evidences should be obtained through legal means and not constitute a crime. Any evidence that does not dishonor the concerned person and not violate his or her privacy can be used for proof.
What is evidence of cheating in divorce cases?
The cheated spouse can prove that he or she was cheated through phone records, SMS records, hotel records, social media posts, photos and video footages. The important issue about is that it should be obtained legally. Evidence obtained illegally and images taken secretly do not constitute evidence for cheating.
When is evidence presented in a divorce case?
The evidence can be presented when filing the case or later on. However, evidence cannot be presented at any time during the trial stage in divorce cases. The right to present evidence will be lost if the evidence is not submitted within two weeks after the preliminary examination hearing.
When does lack of evidence occur in divorce cases?
Evidence is important in divorce cases as in any case. The case will be lost due to lack of evidence if evidence is not submitted by the plaintiff to prove his or her claims or by the defendant to prove his or her defenses, or if illegal evidence is submitted.
How should the evidence submission petition be in divorce cases?
The petition should primarily be legal. The petitioner should completely state the evidences that will prove his or her claim or defense stated in the case. He or she should notify the legally obtained evidences and submit them as enclosed to the petition.
How are social media evidences used in divorce cases? (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc.)
Posts or messages sent from a social media account constitute evidence. However, posts from social media accounts cannot be requested from the social media websites and brought to the court file. But a screenshot of the posts or messages can constitute an evidence.
How is determination of evidence conducted in a divorce case?
A lawsuit for determination of evidence can be filed before the divorce case as preparation. The spouse suspecting cheating can request determination of evidence to determine hotel or phone records. The resulting report from determination of evidence can be the basis of filing a divorce case and can be used as evidence.
What happens if there is no evidence in a divorce case?
The case will be dismissed if it cannot be proven and if no evidence is submitted. Courts will dismiss divorce cases for lack of evidence if the claim or defense is not based on evidence. One should be aware that he or she will lose if the case is filed without evidence.
How long is the period for presenting evidence in divorce cases?
Evidence can be presented when filing the divorce case or later on. However, there is a strict legal period for presenting evidence and will expire if evidence is not presented in due time. The evidence should be presented within two weeks after the date of the first hearing set by the court.