Married couples in Illinois who are planning on getting divorced should be careful about what evidence they leave on their cellphones, because divorce lawyers say the number of cases using phone data as evidence has increased exponentially during the last three years.

According to a survey of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, 92 percent of respondents to a survey of family law attorneys say they've seen an increase in cellphone evidence being used in divorce cases.

The president of the organization said that instead of just having to rely on competing versions of a story from the divorcing spouses, text messages, e-mails and Facebook posts can help set the record straight. He added that text messages can be used against someone the most because they are more likely to be sent spontaneously and reflect honest feelings and emotions.

According to the survey, text messages are the most common forms of evidence taken from cellphones, at 62 percent. E-mails came in second at 23 percent, phone numbers and histories were 13 percent, and GPS data and internet searches were each at 1 percent.

Attorneys expect the use of cellphone evidence to continue to increase, as people rely on smartphones more and more as part of their everyday routine. People are also using digital messaging more and more to communicate to people instead of talking on the phone. Clearly people should think twice before they write something about a marriage that they may regret on a Facebook wall or in a text message to a friend.

Anyone wanting to keep messages on a cellphone away from a divorcing spouse and out of a courtroom should consider consulting with an experienced family law attorney.

Source: MSNBC, "Divorce lawyers see more phone evidence, especially texts," Athima Chansanchai, Feb. 10, 2012