Years ago, it was hard to gather evidence to be used in a California family law case unless a private investigator was hired. However, today, plenty of evidence can often be found on a device that is carried around by just about everyone: a cellphone.

Whether it's hateful text messages or calling out an ex on a lie, many quarreling couples are using evidence gathered on their cellphones to help sway judges in family law cases. It might just make some people think twice about what they send to their exes.

In fact, a recent survey by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers revealed that 92 percent of family law attorneys believe that the past three years have seen a significant increase in the number of cases that use evidence taken from cellphones.

The president of the AAML, a national group consisting of 1,600 attorneys, said that the evidence provided by cellphones has taken away a lot of the "he said/she said" that was once prevalent in divorce and other family law proceedings.

Reportedly, text messages are most common form of evidence taken from cellphones, accounting for 62 percent. Emails then account for 23 percent, phone numbers and call histories account for 13 percent and GPS and Internet search histories each account for one percent, the survey found.

"As smartphones and text messaging become main sources of communication during the course of each day, there will inevitably be more and more evidence that an estranged spouse can collect," the AAML president explained.

What parties to a family law proceeding should take from this is that anything sent to an ex via text message or email can easily be introduced as evidence in court. Therefore, before hitting send, make sure you'd be okay with the judge on your case seeing the message.

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