I don’t know why this is so hard for people to grasp, but your social media CAN be used against you in a trial. Despite privacy settings, it’s very possible that your posting is going to be accessible. If it’s accessible then it can be used in litigation. I’ve seen so many people humiliated because of their indiscriminate posts. These are some of the tidbits unearthed:
- People drinking and partying when they are with their kids.
- Kids drinking underage while with their parents.
- Parents with their children and a paramour during the divorce.
- Cursing and racist behavior.
- Suicidal ideations during a custody case.
- Discovery of the paramour.
- Parents being neglectful of their children in various ways.
- Drug sales.
- Sexting.
- Complaints or on the other hand, praise about the opposing party.
- People lying about their whereabouts.
- Using references in social media to refute testimony.
- Violations of the standard parenting clauses, especially the one that references overnight by the opposite sex while the kids are there.
- Financial indiscretions.
- Information about employment.
The list is endless. I’ve seen people lose custody with evidence of a few drunken nights on their Facebook feed. It goes like this, “Where were your children on (insert date) when you were (insert place) doing (insert activity)?” More likely than not, the children were at home with the other parent. String a few of these kinds of posts together and you’ve created the inference that you are more interested in partying than your children.
How Can Social Media Affect You and Your Divorce Process?
People love to post about new relationships. I’ve had a case where we able to show infidelity because of a post of how long she had been dating her new boyfriend. “Eight months together? But weren’t you still living with your husband six months ago?”
How about this one, “You don’t have any money to pay your past-due child support?” Produce social media post, “How did you afford to go on this beach vacation?” Etc, etc. You get the picture.
If you have been posting on social media during your divorce or through any kind of litigation, don’t be surprised if it comes back on you. Is it really worth the “likes” or comments?
If you have been chatting on messenger via a social media platform, that can also come into evidence. It’s easy enough for a party to say, “It was in the cloud” or, “I could access this by opening up the computer”. It’s hard to prove they hacked into the account, even if they probably did! I would suggest that if you are going to have an affair, do your sexting on someplace besides Facebook or Instagram messenger.
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