Will my messages count as evidence?
Messages, emails, letters and photos are part of many family cases. What matters is how you present them: complete, dated, with where they came from, and only what’s relevant. A whole conversation is easier to check than a cropped screenshot.
If a child or anyone is in danger now, call 999 (UK), 112 (Ireland), 000 (Australia), 911 (US and Canada) or 111 (New Zealand).
Your evidence
Not all evidence is equal.
Tap each kind of evidence to see how it’s usually best kept and presented. Then choose where you live for the rules.
General guidance, for any country.
General information, checked against official sources on 2 October 2026. It isn’t advice about your case. The rules in their own words ↓
From phone to paper
Seven steps from phone to paper.
The aim is a record a stranger could check: complete, in order, with page numbers.
- Export the whole chat.Without media first: it’s smaller, and the text is what matters. Export media separately if you need it.
- Back it up.Somewhere safe, not only on your phone. Phones get lost, broken and replaced.
- Keep the originals.Don’t edit, crop or annotate the originals. Put your notes on a separate page.
- Pick what’s relevant.A few clear examples that prove a point beat hundreds of pages. Keep the rest in case it’s asked for.
- Put it in date order.One run of pages, oldest first, each page numbered.
- Refer to it by page.In your statement: “on 16 March the visit was cancelled (page 7)”.
- Keep it private.Papers from a family case usually can’t be shared or posted. See what the rules say below.
Courts can set their own directions about what evidence to file and how. Follow any order in your case first.
Free tool
Your chat, as a dated transcript.
Drop in a WhatsApp export and get a clean, dated, page-numbered transcript you can print or save as a PDF. It runs in this browser: the chat is never uploaded.
Or paste the text instead
More free tools: photos into a PDF · make a bundle · hide names
See it in the app
Hundreds of messages, the few that matter.
- Add the whole export.Every message, with its date and time. Before the language model reads a word, names become tags.
- Each message becomes a dated event.On one timeline, quoted, next to everything else in the case, with the page it came from.
- It quotes the law where you live. Coming in early accessThe sections that apply to your case, in the law’s own words, with a link to the official text. Change the country above and it changes too.
- It prepares the exhibit list.The messages that matter, numbered, dated and quoted in full from the original.
Sample case. Names and papers are fictional.
What the rules say
The rules, in their own words.
Five questions about evidence, answered only from the court rules, the law and the courts’ own guidance, with the passage that answers it highlighted.
Quoted from the official text. It isn’t advice about your case, and laws and rules change: check the official site. In the US and Canada these matters are set by each state and province; California and Ontario are shown as examples.
Questions people ask
The questions that keep you up at night.
Can I use WhatsApp messages in a custody case?
Messages are often part of family cases, but how they go in depends on your court. Usually it’s the relevant ones, attached to your statement or affidavit and referred to by page. Some courts limit them: in England and Wales they go into the hearing bundle only if the court directs, and Ontario’s Superior Court wants only relevant excerpts. Export the whole chat first, then pick.
Do I need to print every message?
No. Courts want what’s relevant. Pick the messages that show the points you’re making, in date order, and keep the full export in case it’s asked for.
Can I record calls with my ex?
Check first. The law on recording differs between countries and states, and recordings of children raise particular concerns. Get legal advice before you record anyone or rely on a recording.
Can I show the papers to friends, or post about the case?
Be careful. In many countries it’s against the rules, or the law, to share papers from a family case or to identify the children publicly. See “What the rules say” for where you live.
What if they deleted the messages?
Your copy is still your copy. Export it now, keep the phone or backup it came from, and say in your statement how you saved it.
Should I reply to angry messages?
Keep any reply short, calm and about the children, or don’t reply at all. Everything you send can end up in front of the court too. If a message makes you feel unsafe, keep it and get advice.
You’re not alone
You don’t have to do this alone.
Legal aid isn’t available to everyone, so many parents do some or all of this themselves. Free and low-cost help exists: check whether you qualify, and get advice where it counts.
Showing help for England & Wales. Change it with “Where you live” above.
“I built this after going through it myself.” — Andrew, founder
With a lawyer or without one, walk in with your papers in order.
PROVEAiBLE reads your papers, sets out the facts with their pages, shows where the papers disagree, quotes the law for where you live, and prepares your papers for the hearing. It never tells you which legal step to take, or how it will turn out. Law for more countries: coming in early access
Sources, checked 2 October 2026
- England & Wales: Family Procedure Rules 2010; Practice Direction 22A (Written Evidence); Practice Direction 27A (Court Bundles); Family Procedure Rules 2010; Family Justice Council
- Ireland: District Court Rules, Order 8 (Tendering of Evidence); District Court Rules, Order 50 (Affidavits in civil proceedings); Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004
- Australia: Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia; Family Law Act 1975 (Cth)
- United States (California): California Rules of Court; California Rules of Court; California Courts Self-Help Guide; California Family Code section 3111; California Penal Code section 632
- Canada (Ontario): Family Law Rules, O. Reg. 114/99; Superior Court of Justice, Consolidated Provincial Practice Direction for Family Proceedings, Part D; Criminal Code (Canada)
- New Zealand: Ministry of Justice (NZ); Family Court Act 1980; Crimes Act 1961
General information, not legal advice. Laws, rules and court processes change; check the official pages and your own papers before you act.