Cell phone for NJ

[MarylandDad]

Here the deal NJ wants a new cell phone currently we are on a family plan under my name. If I get her a new one that's another 2 year contract. I want to tell her to go screw herself and get her own phone on her own plan. The only up side to keeping her on my plan is I can monitor her calls from the bill. FYI that's how I found out about the last Mr. Wonderful.
What's the thinking on this?

[Trevor]

Set yourself free from all that drama, she gets her own phone and her own plan. Phone calls don't prove anything useful in court.

[epsilon]

You can always just pay for the phone so you don't need to do the 2 year contract.

[newwife]

This would be the perfect excuse for her to get her own phone.
Get out of the cycle. If you CAN'T look at her activity you WON'T look at her activity. It doesn't do you any good-just gets you upset.

[defaultuser]

Set yourself free from all that drama, she gets her own phone and her own plan. Phone calls don't prove anything useful in court.

+1

Even if they did, you can subpoena her phone records. Drop her.

[redium]

Hi,
MarylandDad,I think phone calls don't prove anything useful in court.so u can always just pay for the phone.


babysitters nj

[Southern.Putter]

If you genuinely feel that you need to provide her with a phone in the short run, to keep things smooth a little longer or so your kids can get her by phone, just go buy her a prepaid phone. No long-term plan. No worry.

In the longer run, the advice you've received from everyone else is golden. No 2-year plan. Move on as soon as you are able to do so. Don't sweat the phone bill call detail. It's just not worth much in court. Plus, any "cheating" or other stuff she's already done up to this point is probably more than will ever be useful to you by keeping her on your bill.

One last point: be sure you do some cost/benefit analysis before making your final decision. If you earn $130K+ income, the cost of a two-year plan is trivial compared to what you are likely to spend on legal fees, CS, alimony, and more over the next 2-4 years. While the odds are stacked against it, there is a small chance that you might find a jim-dandy piece of evidence in her call/text log. Also, you need to think broadly about "evidence" and not just think of it as only that which can be presented in court.

Sure, you can subpoena her phone records if they are going to really be needed in court. However, not all "evidence" actually makes its way into court. Sometimes, you might gain some information one way (call logs) that leads you to the need to gain some serious evidence in another way. If the cost of a 2-year plan is insignificant when compared to all of the other divorce-related expenses you will incur, I'd say keep her on your bill. Kinda like the old saying "keep your friends close and your enemies closer".

On the other hand, if you're a regular joe or are just scraping by, you may want to consider the prepaid route.