How to Download Your TalkingParents Messages for Court (PDF Record)
Reviewed by Jacob Reed, founder of Verity ·
TalkingParents keeps every message between co-parents and does not let either of you edit or delete one. To hand that history to a lawyer or a court you order what TalkingParents calls an Unalterable Record. For messages it is a PDF titled Complete Message Record, and it does not download from the page where you order it: TalkingParents emails you a link and an access code.
How to get the PDF record
1.Sign in and open every new message
Sign in at app.talkingparents.com. Open each conversation that shows a new message. TalkingParents will not make a record while you have unread activity: the order button stays greyed out with the note "Please view all new activity and try again."
2.Open Unalterable Records
It is in the main menu on the left. The first time, click Continue past the introduction.
3.Choose PDF Records
You are offered PDF Records or Printed Records. Click Select under PDF Records. Printed Records are mailed to you and cost extra.
4.Add Secure Messaging to the order
Each kind of record is listed separately: Secure Messaging, Shared Calendar, Personal Journal, Accountable Calling and Accountable Payments. Click Add to cart under Secure Messaging for the messages between you and your co-parent.
5.Check the time zone and the email address, then check out
The order summary shows the time zone the record will be printed in and the email address it will be sent to. Change either if you need to, then click Checkout. The order total is shown before you confirm.
6.Open the email and download the PDF
TalkingParents emails a message titled Messaging Record with a link and a 6-character access code. Open the link, type the code, and the PDF downloads. Keep the email: the code is the only way to open that link.
These steps were followed on the TalkingParents website in October 2026, using two test accounts. If the screens have changed, TalkingParents’ help center is the place to check.
What it costs
When we ordered, PDF Records were shown as free on the Enhanced plan, and the Enhanced and Ultimate plans both listed unlimited PDF records. On another plan the order screen shows the price before you confirm, so check it there. Printed Records were listed at $60 per record plus $0.20 a page. Plans and prices change; the order screen is what counts.
What the record contains
- A cover page naming both parents, who requested the record, when it was generated, and a 16-character authentication code that is repeated at the foot of every page.
- TalkingParents’ own certification that the record is a true compilation of the data on its servers, and a note that the PDF carries a digital signature.
- When each parent signed up, and any name changes.
- The messages, grouped by subject. Each message shows who wrote it and the date and time to the second.
- A line each time the other parent opened a subject: their name, “viewed this subject on”, and the date and time. It records that the subject was opened, not that every word was read.
The record prints one subject after another. That is not date order across the whole history, so a reply in one subject can appear pages away from a message sent the same minute in another.
Before you order
- Check the time zone on the order summary. Every time in the record is printed in it, and the first page says which one was used.
- The record we ordered covered the whole message history. We did not see an option to limit it to certain dates.
- Order it again close to any hearing. A record is a snapshot: messages sent afterwards are not in it.
- TalkingParents says the record gives the details of file attachments but not the attachments themselves.
Reading the record with Verity
Verity reads a TalkingParents Complete Message Record as it is. Drop the PDF on the upload box and it is read in your browser, without being uploaded. The messages are put back into one timeline across all subjects, the “viewed this subject” lines are left out of the message text, and you see the communication patterns across the whole history. If yours does not open, use the help form under the upload box and a person will write back.
Using OurFamilyWizard instead? See How to Download an OurFamilyWizard Message Report (PDF).
This is general information, not legal advice. Verity is not a law firm, and requirements for authenticating a digital record vary by court — talk to an attorney about what your case specifically needs.
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