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Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about CustodyComms

General Questions

What is CustodyComms?

CustodyComms is a desktop application that helps family law attorneys and parents analyze co-parent communications and generate court-ready evidence. It consolidates messages from multiple sources (texts, emails, co-parenting apps), uses AI to detect patterns and incidents, and exports professional PDF reports that meet legal admissibility standards.

Who is CustodyComms for?

CustodyComms serves two primary audiences:
 

  • Family law attorneys who need to organize client communications, detect incidents, and prepare court evidence efficiently

  • Parents in custody cases who want to document communications, present their truth clearly, and provide organized evidence to their attorneys

How is this different from manually organizing messages?

Manual organization typically takes 20-40 hours per case. CustodyComms uses AI to analyze thousands of messages in minutes, automatically detecting patterns, incidents, and violations that humans might miss. It also generates legally compliant evidence packages with proper formatting, chain of custody, and integrity verification built in.

Legal Compliance & Admissibility

Will courts accept evidence generated by CustodyComms?

Yes. CustodyComms is built to Federal Rules of Evidence 901 and 902 authentication standards. Every export includes:
 

  • Complete chain of custody documentation

  • SHA-256 integrity verification (tamper detection)

  • Source page references for every message

  • Professional cover sheets and formatting

  • Metadata preservation (timestamps, participants, source info)

We've researched admissibility requirements across all 50 states. The evidence format meets the standards judges expect.

What is FRE 901/902 compliance?

The Federal Rules of Evidence (FRE) 901 and 902 establish authentication requirements for evidence in court. CustodyComms ensures your evidence meets these standards by documenting the source, maintaining chain of custody, and providing integrity verification. This makes it much easier for attorneys to introduce evidence and for judges to accept it.

Can I use CustodyComms evidence in my state?

Yes. While we built CustodyComms to meet federal evidence standards (FRE 901/902), the documentation format is accepted in all 50 states. State rules often mirror federal standards or are even more flexible. If you have concerns about your specific jurisdiction, consult your attorney.

Does using CustodyComms replace my attorney?

No. CustodyComms is a tool to organize evidence and save time—it does not provide legal advice or replace attorney expertise. Always consult with a licensed family law attorney about your specific case.

Privacy & Security

Is my data safe?

Yes. CustodyComms stores 100% of your data locally on your computer—nothing is ever uploaded to the cloud. Your messages, case files, and evidence exports remain on your device under your control. The only internet connection required is for initial authentication and analytics.

What data does CustodyComms send to the cloud?

Only authentication and analytics are sent to the cloud which DO NOT contain any of the content of your messages, case files, evidence export, etc....

Can anyone else access my data?

No. Your data is stored in a local database on your computer. CustodyComms does not have access to your files, and we cannot see, retrieve, or share your data. You control who has access to your computer and your exports.

What happens if my computer crashes or I lose my device?

Since data is stored locally, you should back up your CustodyComms database to an external drive or secure cloud storage of your choice (like Google Drive or Dropbox). We recommend backing up after major imports or before court proceedings.

Pricing & Subscription

Do I need a credit card to start?

No. The Free tier requires no payment information. Just download, install, and start using it.

What's included in the Free tier?

The Free tier includes:

  • 1 case

  • 200 messages imported

  • 1 OCR validation

  • Unlimited basic AI analysis

  • 5 detailed AI incident analyses per month

  • Incident detection and tagging

  • Timeline visualization

  • Watermarked PDF exports

What happens to my data if I cancel Court Month?

Your data stays on your computer and remains fully accessible. You can still view all messages, create incidents, use basic AI analysis, and access any exports you previously generated. The only features you lose are unlimited detailed AI analysis and professional (non-watermarked) exports. You can re-subscribe anytime to regain full access.

Can I buy Court Month for just one month?

Yes. Court Month is a monthly subscription with no long-term commitment. Buy it when you're preparing for court or need full analysis, then cancel when your case is resolved. Your data remains accessible between subscriptions.

Do you offer discounts for multiple months?

Not currently, but we're building annual plans with savings. If you'd like to be notified when they're available, contact us at support@custodycomms.com.

Do you offer law firm or enterprise pricing?

We're building multi-seat licensing for law firms. If you're interested in early access or have specific needs, contact us at support@custodycomms.com.

Technical Questions

Which co-parenting apps does CustodyComms work with?

CustodyComms works with PDF exports from:

  • OurFamilyWizard

  • CoParenter

  • TalkingParents

  • AppClose

It also imports email archives (MBOX format from Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail), text message exports (iPhone XML, Android XML), and other formats like HTML (Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp) and EML files.

What file formats can I import?

CustodyComms supports:

  • PDF (co-parenting app exports, scanned documents)

  • MBOX (email archives from Gmail, Thunderbird, Apple Mail)

  • XML (iPhone and Android text message exports)

  • HTML (Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp exports)

  • EML (individual email files)

What operating systems does CustodyComms support?

CustodyComms runs on:

  • Windows: 

  • macOS: 

What are the system requirements?

Minimum:

  • 4GB RAM

  • 5GB free disk space

  • Internet connection (for download and authentication)

Recommended:

  • 8GB RAM

  • 10GB free disk space

Why is the download 3.5GB?

CustodyComms includes an enterprise-grade OCR engine (DocTR) and AI models that run locally on your device. This ensures fast processing and privacy—your data doesn't need to be uploaded for analysis. The large file size is a one-time download that provides powerful local capabilities.

Do I need internet to use CustodyComms?

You need internet for initial download and authentication. Free tier users authenticate each time they open the app. Court Month subscribers can use the app offline after authenticating once per subscription period. AI analysis features require internet connection, but viewing messages and exports works offline.

Can I use CustodyComms on multiple computers?

Yes, but your data is stored locally on each computer. If you want to access the same case on multiple devices, you'll need to export your database and import it on the other computer. We're exploring cloud sync options for future releases.

Using CustodyComms

How do I import messages from OurFamilyWizard?

In OurFamilyWizard, export your messages to PDF, then upload the PDF to CustodyComms using the Import Data wizard. Our OCR technology will extract all messages with timestamps and participant information.

Can I combine messages from multiple sources?

Yes. This is one of CustodyComms' key features. Import messages from OurFamilyWizard, text messages, emails, and other sources, and they'll all appear on one unified timeline. This gives you a complete picture of all communications.

What does "OCR validation" mean?

OCR (Optical Character Recognition) is the technology that extracts text from PDFs and images. CustodyComms validates this extraction by verifying it against the source document and providing page references, so you can prove every message came from the original file.

What's the difference between "basic" and "detailed" AI analysis?

Basic AI analysis provides a quick title for an incident (e.g., "Threatening language detected").

Detailed AI analysis provides a comprehensive description of the incident, including context, severity assessment, and specific examples from the messages. Detailed analysis is unlimited in Court Month but limited to 5 per month in the Free tier.

How accurate is the AI incident detection?

The AI is trained on a specialized Family Law taxonomy and detects common patterns like harassment, threats, parental alienation, and custody violations with high accuracy. However, AI is a tool to help you—not replace human judgment. Always review AI-detected incidents to ensure they're relevant to your case.

Can I manually create incidents?

Yes. In addition to AI-detected incidents, you can manually flag specific messages or conversations as incidents and add your own notes or categories.

What does "child name redaction" do?

Many courts prefer that children's names are redacted from evidence to protect their privacy. CustodyComms automatically replaces children's names with identifiers like "C-01," "C-02" in exported PDFs. You configure which names to redact in the Case Properties.

Can I customize the evidence export?

Yes. You can:

  • Select which messages to include

  • Choose which incidents to highlight

  • Add case information (parties, attorneys, court details)

  • Enable/disable child name redaction

  • Include or exclude source document appendices

Support & Contact

How do I get help if I'm stuck?

Contact us at support@custodycomms.com. We typically respond within 24 hours for Free users and within 4 hours for Court Month subscribers (priority support).

Do you offer training or tutorials?

Yes. We have video tutorials, a Quick Start Guide, and written documentation available at help.custodycomms.com. If you need personalized training, contact us to discuss options.

Can I request new features?

Absolutely. As a solo-founder product, we're highly responsive to user feedback. Email your feature requests to support@custodycomms.com. We prioritize features that help the most users.

I found a bug. How do I report it?

Email support@custodycomms.com with details about what happened, what you expected, and any error messages you saw. Screenshots are helpful. We take bugs seriously and prioritize fixes.

How accurate is the AI incident detection?

The AI is trained on a specialized Family Law taxonomy and detects common patterns like harassment, threats, parental alienation, and custody violations with high accuracy. However, AI is a tool to help you—not replace human judgment. Always review AI-detected incidents to ensure they're relevant to your case.

Can I manually create incidents?

Yes. In addition to AI-detected incidents, you can manually flag specific messages or conversations as incidents and add your own notes or categories.

What does "child name redaction" do?

Many courts prefer that children's names are redacted from evidence to protect their privacy. CustodyComms automatically replaces children's names with identifiers like "C-01," "C-02" in exported PDFs. You configure which names to redact in the Case Properties.

Can I customize the evidence export?

Yes. You can:

  • Select which messages to include

  • Choose which incidents to highlight

  • Add case information (parties, attorneys, court details)

  • Enable/disable child name redaction

  • Include or exclude source document appendices

Still Have Questions?

Try CustodyComms free—no credit card required

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