ex wife's laptop

Nope, if you don't know it then you are pretty stuffed.
It can be reset, but that's a different matter altogether.
Now where did I put my barge pole.
See above and add 10 feet.

The real question is as you say she is your EX wife, so why are you spying on her ?!

It would be unethical for any of us to help you spy on anyone,. Especially an ex wife. It might even be illegal for you to do what you ask our help for.

If you know she is cheating, evidence is a thing of the past in divorce court, merely file for divorce

What do you think you will prove or have if you do open it up. The courts honestly seldom look at who cheated on who but on what type of home.

So you file for temp custody of the kids, divorce her and fight it out in court,

Even if you broke into it, that is illegal and no evidence you get there could ever be used in court anyway

Yes, but I'm not telling you because it's INCREDIBLY illegal.

By incredibly, I mean PROFOUNDLY, TOTALLY, AMAZINGLY illegal.

Listen to the other posts here. They're right.

If all this "evidence" is available on her laptop and on-line records, why not have your lawyer try to subpoena this data for your court case?

Trying to "do it yourself" will most likely invalidate the "evidence" you want to retrieve.

I agree fully with your reply, you need to do things the correct way and the LEGAL way..

You say that you want to fight for your kids, what do you think your Ex Wife would make of things in a court if she found out that you had been spying on her this could make a lot of problems for you regards access to your kids full stop if things illegal where brought against you in court and you may even depending on your country end up with a criminal record.

Scott is also spot on and Ben because no one on this site will help you break the law of any lands across the globe.

I say get anything you can, get the kids and run. This is going to be a nasty battle and you do NOT want to know what can happen to your kids at the hands of a mother willing to wreck her family by having an affair. Get the kids and get out. Don't even tell her where you went (not a hint - as in destroy your credit cards, etc. Etc). I'm QUITE serious. I wish I had had that advice in 2001 (!). My boy has bene drugged and beaten by my oh-so-courtly ex. Don't let it happen to yours. The little lady can and will. Forget the laptop. Take the kids now if you ever want them. Family court won't give them to you no matter what you say and you will NEVER, EVER have a better opportunity. I tell you this honestly so yours will have the chance mine didn't.

If you obtain evidence illegally it is not admissable in court.
Why do you think that cops have to have probable cause and obtain a search warrant.
But your lawyer can file a motion to get access to her computer.
Then everything they find is admissable in court.

But do not take your kids and run if you do not have custodyt of them because you will go to Jail when you are caught. This is called kidnapping.

Yes the courts will give you custody of yoour kids if you can prove the mother is unfit. Which sometimes is hard to do. But it has been done.

So no I will not help you hack her computer.

ABSOLUTELY NOT, Angel, though I would guess you'd love all men to believe that:

Unless you have a court-ordered custody order in place, you absolutely may take your children any where you want and I am telling you, you're in for a battle that could easily ruin both you and them if you don't. I f you DO have a court-ordered custody plan, or custody order, then you're already screwed, no breaking into her laptop will help. Best to have her followed by a GOOD PI, trained in divorcec work. Take it from YEARS of experience.

P.S. You can use the contents of her laptop possibly, to gain information abuot what she is doing, then have her followed and document it. Don't try to follow her yourself, though, unless you want a restraining order faster than you can say, "Bob's your uncle."

Such evidence does not have to be used in court. It is quite effective when shown to DCFS officials, psychiatrists, and believe me you will have to face them, minor's counsel, which judge's just LOVE now because although it is as my psychologist told me (who is on the psychiatric panel of a major metro court), it's just a cluster f***, judges just love to use them to get their anti-father decisions rubber stamped by another "court official" who is supposed to be neutral, though they are LAWYERS - get it LAWYERS!

A major study was done not long ago of fathers who had been through the kind of custody battle you are facing, and 100% of the men said if they had to do it again, they would have taken the chiuldren and run. This INCLUDED A FAMILY COURT JUDGE! You decide. It really, really, is that bad. Are you going to settle fro Angel's "well, some men get custody" or do you want to stay in your childrens' lives and be their father. Mother figures acan be found any where. Trust me, I know from experience.

Take them and run - now - before she reads these posts. And if you do have the grave misfortune of ending up in dependency court, THOSE judges will look at anything. That court is above any law of our land - FAR above. You will have dynamite, if she's confessed anything or written questionnable emails. The prudes on this board are stupid. Just steal the goddamn thing and take it to a local repair shop saying you forgot yourpower-on password. You don't have to rely on Dudley Dooright and the Illicit Angel.