Grounds 4 Divorce

Philandering spouses across France have been frantically pounding the Delete button on their phones this summer, after the country's highest appeals court ruled that steamy text messages are admissible as evidence in divorce cases. The judgment overturned a lower court's refusal to consider "Dear Pookie" messages as proof of a man's unfaithfulness because--are you sitting down for this, ladies?--doing so would have violated his right to privacy. The appellate court ruled that the texts could be used since they were not "obtained by violence or fraud." (The wife found them on a phone her husband claimed to have lost--and no doubt wishes he had.)

Such messages are admissible in most U.S. states as long as they are authentic. In France, proof of infidelity won't affect child custody or asset division, but it can reduce the separation period (two years in contested cases) required before obtaining a divorce. The ruling prompted French telecoms to warn that it's possible to recover deleted texts within 10 days of sending them.