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For family law paralegals

What to ask each client to export.

The file each co-parenting and messaging app makes, where your client finds it, and the tip that saves a second request. Tick each one off as you ask, or print the sheet for the file.

Ask about firm use

Whatever the app, ask for

  • The file the app makes, not screenshots of the screen.
  • The whole period of the matter, not a selection of messages.
  • Sent to you unchanged: not edited, re-saved or printed again.

The checklist, app by app

A tick beside Message Review or Desktop app means that CustodyComms product reads this kind of file.

Co-parenting apps

  • OurFamilyWizard

    Read byMessage Review

    OurFamilyWizard export guide

    Ask the client for
    A Message report of the All Messages folderPDF
    Where they make it
    On the OurFamilyWizard website: Messages, the All Messages folder, then the Report icon. The mobile app cannot make a Message report.
    Tip
    Choose All In Folder, sort oldest to newest, keep the OurFamilyWizard header, and leave message replies out. A large report arrives later in the Notifications folder.

    Your own access. OurFamilyWizard has accounts for professionals. A client links you from their own account with Add Pro.

  • TalkingParents

    Read byMessage ReviewDesktop app

    TalkingParents export guide

    Ask the client for
    The Messaging Record, as a PDFPDF
    Where they make it
    In TalkingParents: Unalterable Records, then PDF Records.
    Tip
    Ask for the full record, not one thread. The client can send a copy straight to your email address. It lists attachments without including them.

    Your own access. TalkingParents does not give a lawyer direct access to a client’s account. The client sends you the record.

  • AppClose

    Read byMessage ReviewDesktop app

    AppClose export guide

    Ask the client for
    The chat exportPDF
    Where they make it
    In the AppClose app: open the chat, tap the down arrow next to the member’s name, then Export. AppClose emails the client a link to download it.
    Tip
    Ask for a date range that covers the whole matter, and one export per chat.

    Your own access. With AppClose Pro, a client can give you read-only access to their chats for up to 90 days. To export a chat, you need a separate approval from the client.

  • coParenter

    Read byMessage ReviewDesktop app

    Ask the client for
    A transcript of each conversationPDF
    Where they make it
    In the coParenter app, from each conversation.
    Tip
    Ask for every conversation the matter needs, each as its own file.

Texts and chats

  • iPhone texts and iMessage

    Read byMessage ReviewDesktop app

    iPhone export guide

    Ask the client for
    The conversation exported from iMazing as CSVCSV
    Where they make it
    iMazing on a Mac or Windows computer, with the iPhone connected: Messages, the conversation, Export, then CSV. Apple has no export of its own for Messages.
    Tip
    Ask for CSV. iMazing’s free trial stops a Messages export at 25 items, so the client may need a paid plan.

  • Android texts

    Read byMessage ReviewDesktop app

    Android export guide

    Ask the client for
    A backup made with SMS Backup & RestoreXML
    Where they make it
    The free SMS Backup & Restore app on the phone: Create a backup.
    Tip
    The client can back up only the conversations you need. In the desktop app you also choose which conversations to import.

  • WhatsApp

    Read byMessage ReviewDesktop app

    Ask the client for
    Export chat, without mediaTXT or ZIP
    Where they make it
    In WhatsApp: open the chat, then More or the contact’s name, then Export chat.
    Tip
    Android saves a .txt file and iPhone saves a .zip. Send either one as it is.

  • Facebook Messenger and Instagram

    Read byMessage Review

    Ask the client for
    An export of their messages, in HTMLHTML
    Where they make it
    In Meta Accounts Center or Meta Account settings: Your information and permissions, then Export your information.
    Tip
    Choose only messages, in HTML. It arrives as a .zip; each conversation is a message_1.html file inside.

Email

  • Gmail

    Read byMessage ReviewDesktop app

    Gmail export guide

    Ask the client for
    A Google Takeout of MailMBOX
    Where they make it
    At takeout.google.com: deselect everything, then select only Mail.
    Tip
    Choose only the labels that hold the emails you need, so the file stays small. Takeout has no date range, and it arrives as a .zip or .tgz with the .mbox inside.

Product names and logos are trademarks of their respective owners. CustodyComms is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.

Once the file arrives

Your client can drop it into Message Review in a browser at custodycomms.com/try, with nothing to install. Or your paralegal imports it in the CustodyComms desktop app on a firm computer, where the import and the export run on that machine.

The full list of apps and file types, with which of the two reads each one, is on which apps and files it reads.

Running intake for many clients?

Tell us how your firm handles client messages today, and ask about firm licensing or referring clients.

Ask about firm useCustodyComms for family law firms

CustodyComms provides formatting and documentation tools. Authentication and presentation decisions remain with the attorney of record.

Cloud AI analysis, the free sample analysis on this site, and the chat assistants are available in the United States and its territories, Canada (except Quebec), Australia and New Zealand only. Work you do on your own computer in the desktop app (importing messages, building your timeline, reviewing incidents and exporting them) is not restricted by where you are, and neither is downloading the app or managing your subscription.