Legal Question - Subpoena Phone Records - Divorce

[Texas St. Armadillos 1388]

Long story short, Uncle and Aunt getting divorced. North Carolina.  Getting ugly.

My Dad and Uncle are brothers.

Aunt's attorney has issued a subpeona for my Dad's (and other's) phone records here in Texas.

What is the best course of action that he can take?

[TwiceHorn 32071]

11 minutes ago, Texas St. Armadillos said:

Long story short, Uncle and Aunt getting divorced. North Carolina.  Getting ugly.

My Dad and Uncle are brothers.

Aunt's attorney has issued a subpeona for my Dad's (and other's) phone records here in Texas.

What is the best course of action that he can take?

Does he not want them disclosed at all?  Not as a public record?

Three people have the right to object to a subpoena, the opposing party in the litigation (Uncle), the person to whom the records belong (Dad and the others), and the custodian of records (the phone company).

 

The phone company is least likely to object, but if they don't have em they dont have em.

 

Your Dad and the others have a "privacy" and "burdensome and harassing" objection because a) wtf do THEIR phone records have to do with Uncle's divorce?  and b) that's private and c) what will Dad's records show that Uncle's won't? 

The uncle's objection should be in the NC court where the subpoena was issued, and it is actually unlikely that the other party followed the proper procedure to obtain a subpoena from a Texas court, in which case the subpoena may be ignored (a NC subpoena is ineffective outside of NC).  If it did issue from a Texas court, then a Texas lawyer should be hired to raise the objections in the preceding paragraph.

Edited June 13, 2018 by TwiceHorn

[Texas St. Armadillos 1388]

Dad's cell phone is his business phone, so he wants to protect that information for one, but mainly because it's not relevant.

She's just trying to make things difficult it appears.

[TwiceHorn 32071]

14 minutes ago, Texas St. Armadillos said:

Dad's cell phone is his business phone, so he wants to protect that information for one, but mainly because it's not relevant.

She's just trying to make things difficult it appears.

Those are legit objections.   If there isn't some specific showing of relevance and need from the other party, "third party" discovery of this type of private information should not be permitted.  If it's just a fishing expedition, no go, but if, for example, your Dad hid assets for your Uncle and the phone records somehow corroborate that, or might, then there might be a chance.

Do you know if the subpoena is from a Texas court or an NC court?  Normally, in state courts, you have to ask your own court (where the case is pending) for "letters rogatory" requesting a court in another state to issue a subpoena within its jurisdiction for the material requested.  Probably fewer than half of family lawyers know this or how to go about it.  In most states, an in-state subpoena is filled out and served by the attorney without court intervention unless someone objects to the subpoena (by raising the objections above, for example).  So if Aunt's attorney just sent out a bunch of NC subpoenas, the appropriate response is a middle finger.

If it is a Texas subpoena, then your Dad and others can hire a Texas lawyer to move to quash it, raising the privacy and relevance concerns above.  Each recipient will have to file a response, but it should be the same for each and require the issuing party (Aunt) to make a showing of why this discovery is needed.

Edited June 13, 2018 by TwiceHorn

[Texas St. Armadillos 1388]

I believe the subpeona was issued in a North Carolina court.

[TwiceHorn 32071]

Just now, Texas St. Armadillos said:

I believe the subpeona was issued in a North Carolina court.

If true:

[Texas St. Armadillos 1388]

Exactly.

Thanks for the information.

[TwiceHorn 32071]

One caveat.  It appears, from skimming the NC rules, that a DEPOSITION may be taken without court order and that a request for documents may accompany the deposition notice.

So if the "subpoena" is for a deposition, in addition to phone records, there may be some further action required.

And, rather than dickbutt or the middle finger, it is probably wise for all of your Texas folks to hire a lawyer for a couple hundred bucks to make sure this is accurate and to write a letter to the NC lawyer for Aunt, dickbutt stationery optional.

[TwiceHorn 32071]

Another caveat, I suppose, is to whom is the subpoena directed?  If it's to the phone company, and they have a presence in NC, then it might actually be a valid subpoena.  You can't count on the phone company objecting on any grounds other than inconvenience, so it would be wise to obtain NC counsel to lodge the privacy/relevance objections in the NC court.

[RollLeft 5090]

 

This is isn't NC, this is the sovereign state of TX...one of my favorite scenes ever by a fellow Horn!  Bruce McGill aka D-Day.

[NeverMarryAStripper 22277]

Except that he said this is the sovereign state of Mississippi.