Can you record a conversation with your spouse under Michigan law?

Often clients call and ask how they can preserve telephone calls with their spouse or voice mails. You can buy telephone recording devices. Radio Shack sells them or you can look in the yellow pages for a spy store. You put part of it in your ear and the other end sticks out a bit. Plug it into a handheld recording device. There are some recording devices that you can download into the computer as an mp3 file. So, hook up the device and set it to start recording; dial your voice mail and let it play while you record. Then download into the computer and save it forever.

Also, if you get an urge to record live telephone conversations, please keep in mind that the law only allows you to record a telephone conversation to which you are a party. If you are participating on the phone, you can record your conversation. Understand, you cannot record your children’s conversations, your spouse’s conversations, or any other conversations where you are not a part of the exchange. That would be a violation of federal law!

You can go to the website http://www.rcfp.org/taping/ to check the law in each state. I would consult a lawyer in that state to verify the results before you trust what this website says.

Information provided by our Metro Detroit Michigan attorneys. If you have questions about Michigan family law matters, please call our law office for a free consultation.