Evidence of Communication

[buddhadimple]

Do they want to know ALL of your communication? We searched for each other's names in our e-mail inboxes and printed about 10 pages of just "Name - Subject - Date".

Should we print out the content of each e-mail or are they happy to know we have e-mailed each other a lot while we were separated? Technically, we didn't start being Common-Law until I moved to England so we have never been apart since Feb 2009 (so don't have a lot of e-mails since that time) but we still have communication from before that time. We have cell phone records from us contacting each other daily while I've been here too.. but I'm more just wondering about the e-mails.

Also, we communicated more on Facebook than we did via e-mail so I assume those messages are okay to use - and same thing again: do they want the entire conversation or just the name and headings showing there was ongoing contact?


Thanks!

 

[RobsLuv]

What people usually do is send a copy of an inbox showing the number and frequency of emails or chats or whatever, and also send several "random" offerings of content. They will want to see that there was actually communication, but they don't read everything - so it's not necessary to send each and every one. A listing of emails from your inbox, or messages from Facebook, or chat records from MSN or Skype, etc., speaks to the frequency of contact, while a few actual copies of chats, emails, messages, etc., will show content for "genuine" purposes.

Also, it is harder to show continued contact when you're actually living together, but they do want evidences supporting the development of the relationship prior to cohabitation. That will speak to the "genuine nature" of your relationship. The co-habitation requirement is proven more through lease agreements, things mailed to you at the same address, utility bills in both names, notice of beneficiary on each others' insurance type things, etc. Don't fail to understand that common-law qualification requires proof of two separate things: the co-habitation piece that makes you eligible to apply as c/l partners AND the genuine relationship part. That's not terribly clear in the application instructions.

 

[Kess]

We didn't send any emails but I printed out 32 pages of Google Talk (IM) inbox chat records showing communication pretty much every day for the entire two years we dated up until just before submitting the application. Each line showed a little bit of the contents and how many lines of chat were in each record. Hopefully the millions of *hug*'s and *kiss*'s we sent each other supports our relationship, lol.

We also scanned in a couple birthday/valentines/christmas cards we sent each other and my cell phone records showing calls to him and calls when I was in the US for the last two years (he threw out his bills a while ago.. grrr).

 

[buddhadimple]

Thanks for your help guys. I know I'll always get some help here!! We're submitting it this week so fingers crossed!

 

[silverbee]

Definitely include as much as you can, and include communication from when you were living together. They want to know how your relationship developed, so include as much as you can.
They definitely do read through everything. I inlcluded a huge stack of emails, a few months of cell phone bills and holiday cards, postcards and letters. Don't worry about sending too much.