Every state is different, Google the law in ND.

In Arizona, it's legal as long as ONE person that is party to the conversation is aware it's being recorded. So yes, here you could record the conversation and use it in court.

I think that is the same thing here. As long as you give your permission to be recorded, it can be used in court.

Yours is a two-party state, Connie. Yes, you can record the phone calls so long as you inform the other party. Answer the phone, "Hello, all calls are recorded." Conversation between both parties is consent. What I'm saying is you don't have to have her express permission. Let her know calls are recorded. Engaging in conversation is entirely up to her because she knows then that she is being recorded.

There is equipment you can buy to automatically record calls once the receiver lifts from the hook. You'll also need a cassette recorder to attach it to. I bought mine at Radio Shack several years ago. There might be more sophisticated equipment now.

Errrr is this yes? or no?
Also the call would be from one cell phone to another?
What the heck does this mean?

"In all 50 states and through federal law, it's considered illegal to record telephone conversations outside of one party consent."

Here is a link that might be useful: recording law

Well shoot. The site I found says I am in a one party consent state....now I am confused.

I forgot to say thats a good way to answer the phone Mallory!

Yes, I read that wrong. So sorry.
But my link doesn't seem to apply in the way we need it.
I'll keep looking.

I couldn't get your link to open.

Found something more specific.....

Under United States federal law and most state laws there is nothing illegal about one of the parties to a telephone call recording the conversation, or giving permission for calls to be recorded or permitting their telephone line to be tapped. However, several states (i.e., California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington) require that all parties consent when one party wants to record a telephone conversation.

That means you don't have to tell her or answer the phone that way. Check it with an attorney to be sure.

a one-party law means that someone NOT in the phone conversation cannot record it. But YOU can tape YOUR OWN phone calls WITHOUT notifying the other person. You know it's being recorded, that's enough. (you could also tell your son-in-law that he can record it, as long as YOU KNOW it's being recorded)

Your neighbor can't record phone calls between you and someone else. Or someone who picks up a cell phone conversation on a scanner can't record it and play it back to embarrass Newt Gingrich.

Also, cell phones might have different rules, since they use air waves, but probably not.

Best bet, record the conversation. If you find out on Monday that it won't help you, you can erase the recording.

Thank you Dea and Magic and thanks again Mallory! BTW, HOW did you possibly know WHO we were talking about? LOL
Its not a criminal activity I guess we are talking about but a simple case of he said, she said. She is claiming he said she could have this weekend and he said no possible way did I say that. Long story short she screwed him out of not one but two weekends visits. So it will be an entire month again without them seeing each other.
He will be checking with his attorney on this but before looking to buy any equipment he wants to be sure its legal....
I dunno why you couldn't open the link I posted, but I copied and will paste it here just incase....

The federal law makes it unlawful to record telephone conversations except in one party consent cases which permit one party consent recording by state law. What that means is a person can record their own telephone conversations without the knowledge or consent of the other party in those states that allow one party consent.

It's important to understand the difference between what has become known as one party consent and two party or all party consent. One party consent simply means that one party to the conversation must have knowledge and give consent to the recording. Two party or all party consent means that every party to the conversation must have knowledge and give consent to the recording.

There are twelve states that require all party consent. They are:

California
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Illinois
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Montana
New Hampshire
Pennsylvania
Washington

There are 38 states that permit one party consent. They are:

Alaska
Arkansas
Colorado
District of Columbia
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Nebraska
Nevada
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

In all 50 states and through federal law, it's considered illegal to record telephone conversations outside of one party consent. There are a couple of exceptions. In the state of California, one party consent can be applied only under circumstances in which one party is involved in criminal activity which would include extortion or blackmail. In the state of Arizona, the subscriber to a telephone service can record telephone conversations with no party consent when criminal activity is involved. Other than those two known exceptions, all other recordings outside of those states that permit one party consent are a violation of state and federal law. The question is often asked by clients if they can record the telephone conversations of their spouse in a domestic case or the conversations of their children concerning drug usage. In both of these cases, the answer is it's unlawful. Many clients will complain that they own the telephone and pay the telephone bill so they should therefore have a right to record what they want. However, the law doesn't address who owns the phone nor who pays the phone bill. It only addresses the use of one party and all party consent. Anything outside of that is a violation of state law and federal wiretapping law.

The Federal Communications Commission goes further into details on recording telephone conversations and states that the party recording must give verbal notification before the recording and that there must be a beep tone on the line to indicate that the line is being recorded,.

Business Recordings
Federal law permits businesses to monitor phone calls that are business related when the monitoring is part or the ordinary course of business. When the content of the telephone conversation is of a personal nature, the monitoring must stop. In those cases of two party consent states, this exemption may be voided.

Calls Crossing State Lines
Calls that cross state lines become complicated legal issues especially when one state is a one party consent state and the other state is an all party consent state. What has happened is that you didn't violate the law in the one party consent state and violated the law in the all party consent state. Moreover, since the call went across a state line, the federal laws would certainly apply. The most famous case involving this type of issue is the Linda Trip case. You will recall that Linda Trip recorded the telephone conversations of Monica Lewinski concerning her relationship with President Clinton. Trip was in Maryland and Lewinski was in DC. Note that Maryland is an all party consent state while DC is a one party consent state. The law is actually quite fuzzy on these issues. The recorder is advised to assume that the sticker law would apply.

Cell Phones And Wireless Phones
Cell and wireless telephones transmit conversation through the air like a radio does. You hear old stories of spying using scanners locked onto a wireless telephone frequency with an attached voice activated tape recorder connected to it to eavesdrop on the conversation. Until certainly, the laws concerning this activity was fuzzy. However, federal law now makes it illegal to record both wireless and cell phone conversations outside of one party consent. You used to be able to go into places like Radio Shack and purchase scanners that would lock onto the frequencies needed to pick up wireless and cell phone conversations. These scanners are now illegal to sell or be in possession of.

STATE-BY-STATE ALPHABETICAL LIST

Alabama - One Party
Alaska - One Party
Arkansas - One Party
California - All Party
Colorado - One Party
Connecticut - All Party
Delaware - All Party
District of Columbia - One Party
Florida - All Party
Georgia - One Party
Hawaii - One Party
Idaho - One Party
Illinois - All Party
Indiana - One Party
Iowa - One Party
Kansas - One Party
Kentucky - One Party
Louisiana - One Party
Maine - One Party
Maryland - All Party
Massachusetts - All Party
Michigan - All Party
Minnesota - One Party
Mississippi - One Party
Missouri - One Party
Montana - All Party
Nebraska - One Party
Nevada - One Party
New Hampshire - All Party
New Jersey - One Party
New Mexico - One Party
New York - One Party
North Carolina - One Party
North Dakota - One Party
Ohio - One Party
Oklahoma - One Party
Oregon - One Party
Pennsylvania - All Party
Rhode Island - One Party
South Carolina - One Party
South Dakota - One Party
Tennessee - One Party
Texas - One Party
Utah - One Party
Vermont - One Party
Virginia - One Party
Washington - All Party
West Virginia - One Party
Wisconsin - One Party
Wyoming - One Party

I worked for a company that developed the software to record phone calls in 911 centers, call centers, etc. A "one party" state means that only one of the parties needs to know the call is being recorded. Here in Oklahoma, for example, I can record a call with anybody I want to without their permission. As long as one person (ME!) knows it is being recorded, that's all that matters.

The legally of recording a telephone conversation does not necessarily make it admissible in court. To establish grounds for admission the phone call much be established as contractual. A conversation may or may not be seen as a verbal contract regardless of what was said. So it would be a two stage process. I think your son needs to seek his attorneys advice in how to proceed.

An example would be a business calling you up and telling you the call is being recorded and you consenting to speak to them. Although you might agree to their services they will send you a written contract to sign. Until then you have no contract with them regardless of what they promise or you promise.