Maine is a one-party consent state for phone calls: your own consent as a participant is enough to record a conversation lawfully.
A call with your co-parent that you took part in is generally usable in a Maine custody case, but a separate all-party rule (17-A M.R.S. § 511) bars hidden recording in bathrooms, bedrooms, or similar private spaces.
You may record a call or conversation you are part of.
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The direct answer: yes, for calls you are part of
Maine is a one-party consent state for phone calls and ordinary conversations. Title 15, § 709(4) of the Maine Revised Statutes defines “intercept” to exclude the sender or receiver of a communication, a person within normal hearing range, or someone given prior authority by the sender or receiver. In practice, that means if you are a party to the call — talking with your co-parent about a pickup, a payment, or a dispute — you are not “intercepting” anything at all under Maine’s definition, and the recording is lawful without telling the other person.
The exact statutes and how the offense is built
§ 709 supplies the definitions that make the one-party rule work; § 710 supplies the criminal offense and penalties, covering unauthorized interception, tampering with a recording before using it in a proceeding, disclosing intercepted contents, and possessing or selling interception devices without authorization. Because a recording you make as a participant never meets § 709’s definition of “intercept,” the offenses in § 710 simply do not apply to it.
The penalties for the conduct that is actually prohibited
Unauthorized interception of a wire or oral communication — recording a conversation you are not part of, without any party’s consent — is a Class C crime in Maine, and so is knowingly using a tampered or altered recording in a judicial proceeding without disclosing the alteration. Selling or distributing an interception device without proper authorization is a Class B crime, a step up in seriousness. Communications carriers also face civil penalties of up to $5,000 for failing to report violations to the Attorney General. Possessing an interception device with intent to use it unlawfully is likewise a Class C crime, so the statute reaches not just the act of recording someone you are not a party to, but the preparation to do so as well.
The nuance that catches Maine parents off guard
Maine has a second, separate law that many people confuse with the wiretap statute: 17-A M.R.S. § 511, the violation-of-privacy statute, requires all-party consent for recording someone in a private place such as a bathroom, changing room, or bedroom — regardless of whether you would otherwise be allowed to record a phone call with that person. This means a parent who is completely within their rights to record a phone conversation with a co-parent would violate a different law entirely by planting a camera or recorder in the co-parent’s bedroom or bathroom during a custody exchange. The two statutes serve different purposes and neither one substitutes for the other.
Using a recording in a Maine custody case
A phone call or in-person conversation you lawfully recorded as a participant can be offered as evidence in a Maine family matter, subject to the court’s usual review of relevance and authenticity. Preserve the original audio without edits, record the date, time, and who was present, and be ready to explain how the recording was made — a continuous, unaltered file is far more credible than a trimmed excerpt, and Maine’s own statute specifically criminalizes presenting a tampered recording in a proceeding without disclosure, so editing is not just bad practice, it can be a separate crime.
The interstate caveat: what if your co-parent lives elsewhere?
Maine’s one-party rule covers your side of the call, but it does not bind a different state’s law if your co-parent is physically present there when you talk. If the other parent is in an all-party consent state such as Massachusetts, New Hampshire, or Connecticut when the call happens, that state’s stricter rule may apply to its own resident regardless of Maine law. Because you usually cannot confirm exactly where the other party is standing, the safest habit — used throughout this series — is to assume the strictest rule whenever their location is uncertain, and simply announce that the call is being recorded.
Beyond the call: what a strong record looks like
Maine courts deciding parental rights and responsibilities under 19-A M.R.S. § 1653 look at the history of cooperation and conflict between parents, which means a single recorded call rarely tells the whole story on its own. If you are lawfully recording conversations with your co-parent as a participant, build that recording into a larger, dated timeline rather than presenting it in isolation — keep the related text thread complete, note the exact date and time, and be able to explain plainly what the recording documents. Because Maine separately criminalizes presenting a tampered recording in a judicial proceeding under § 710(2), and because the state’s all-party rule for private spaces under 17-A M.R.S. § 511 sits right alongside the one-party rule for calls, it is worth being especially careful that every piece of your record was captured the right way for the situation it involves — a lawful phone recording is not the same thing as a lawful recording inside someone’s home. A consistent, unaltered, chronological record of missed exchanges, broken agreements, or hostile communication is far more persuasive to a Maine judge than a single clip, however dramatic, produced without that surrounding context, and it also protects you if the other parent later questions how or why a particular recording was made.
Frequently asked questions
Can I record a phone call with my co-parent in Maine without telling them?
Yes. Because you are a party to the call, you are not “intercepting” anything under Maine’s definition in 15 M.R.S. § 709(4), so no notice is legally required.
Can I hide a recorder in my co-parent’s bathroom or bedroom during an exchange?
No. That is governed by a separate all-party consent law, 17-A M.R.S. § 511, which protects private spaces regardless of Maine’s one-party rule for phone calls.
What happens if I edit a recording before using it in court?
Knowingly presenting an altered recording in a judicial proceeding without disclosing the alteration is itself a Class C crime under § 710(2), separate from any custody consequence.
My co-parent moved out of state — does Maine law still protect my recording?
Maine covers your own consent, but the state where the other parent is physically located when you record may apply its own rule. When their location is uncertain, announce the recording to stay safe everywhere.
Does Maine’s one-party rule apply to text messages too?
Maine’s wiretap statute is aimed at wire and oral communications like calls, not stored text messages, which are generally governed by different rules on obtaining and preserving records rather than consent to intercept.
Maine draws a sharp line: your phone calls fall under the one-party rule (§ 709), but planting a recorder in a private space is a separate all-party offense under 17-A § 511. Copareo Secure Line stays on the lawful side of that line — it captures the calls and texts you are a party to, transcribes them, and time-stamps each one into a tamper-evident record with an admissibility one-pager for your attorney, for a one-time $9.90 with no subscription. See how to document co-parenting for court for the complete system, or the call recording laws by state for every neighboring state’s rule.
Not legal advice. This page summarizes Maine law for general information and is not a substitute for advice from a licensed Maine attorney. Recording and evidence rules change and courts decide admissibility case by case. Verify against the official statute (Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 15, §§ 709-710) and consult an attorney about your situation.