Hearsay

Loosely, a secondhand statement offered to prove what it asserts. Evidence rules around it are technical and full of exceptions, which is one reason what your record can be used for is a question for your attorney.

What hearsay means

Hearsay, loosely put, is an out-of-court statement offered to prove that what it says is true. The classic worry is a secondhand account: someone testifying about what another person told them, where the original speaker cannot be questioned. Evidence rules limit hearsay because the person who made the statement is not there to be tested.

The rules are genuinely technical and riddled with exceptions, and how they apply to a personal journal or a text message is not something you can safely predict on your own. This is one of the clearest reasons that what your record can be used for is a question for a lawyer, not a matter of common sense.

Example: your own contemporaneous notes and a screenshot of a message the other parent sent you may be treated very differently from your note about what a neighbor said they saw. Which pieces come in, and for what purpose, depends on the rules in your court.

The practical takeaway is not to try to master the doctrine but to keep clean, firsthand, dated records and let your attorney sort out how each piece can be used.

Related terms

Admissibility: Whether a court will accept a piece of evidence, like a journal, message, or photo, and consider it in a case. Rules vary by jurisdiction and often turn on relevance, authenticity, and how the record was kept.
Contemporaneous record: A record made at or near the time of the event it describes. Contemporaneous entries are generally treated as more reliable than accounts reconstructed weeks or months later.
Discovery: The formal stage of litigation where each side must share relevant information and documents with the other. Anything you’ve written, including journals and messages, may be requested.

Keep reading: Are Custody Journals and Text Messages Admissible in Family Court?, or return to the full glossary.

This definition is general information, not legal advice. Terms and their exact meanings vary by state, county, and case; for how this concept applies to your situation, consult a qualified family-law attorney.