Can You Legally Hide an AirTag in Your Ex's Car in California?
Featuring
Tim Miranda, CFLS
What to expect
In this short video, experienced California family law attorneys explain why placing a tracking device in your ex-partner's vehicle can create serious legal problems—even if you claim it's to keep track of your children or a jointly owned car.
The court will look at the evidence and determine whether the tracking amounts to stalking or harassment, especially during a separation or custody dispute.
Transcript
'A question that comes up a lot is can I put an AirTag in my ex's vehicle?
This is quite common and it's quite unfortunate.
So, the first thing is who does the car belong to? Is it a community asset? Was it acquired during marriage so it's presumptively community? Okay, but who is driving it?
You're separated, it's in the possession of whom? I hear a lot of excuses and I've heard these on the stand and quite frankly, they're and they have no merit and everybody laughs when they're coming out of the witness's mouth. But, they say what?
"My kids ride in that car so I wanted to track the movements of my kids." Okay, then give them a necklace or put in their backpack your backpack when they're with you.
'I wanted to see where my car was going. I thought that it may get stolen." There's other ways to do that now. They used to have LoJack in the what? 90s? Oftentimes that's a bunch of bullshit.
Basically, what it comes down to is you're separated from your spouse and you want to try to track her movements. People get caught doing this all the time because they end up showing up at the same restaurant or the same mall.
In this age in California, it is so easy to get a restraining order for stalking or for harassment. That would be a clear-cut indication that you're stalking and harassing.
The point is that you can't do it. It could be stalking and even if you have some creative excuses, the court is always going to consider that under preponderance of evidence is it more likely than not that you're stalking."
