Many people use social media on a frequent or even daily basis. It’s important to be aware of how this use can affect court cases, especially divorce proceedings. Your posts on social media can impact several aspects of your divorce if you aren’t careful. When you work with a multi-state divorce attorney, they can advise you on the right course of action and help you better protect your interests during the process.
Divorce proceedings require both spouses to take extra care with how they act, even outside of court. This includes limiting what and how you post on social media. This is even more important when your divorce is litigated, and you and your spouse have a contentious relationship.
Using Social Media as Evidence
Divorce is a stressful experience, and it’s important and healthy to take time to unwind and talk about your negative emotions from the proceedings. However, it’s important to know how to keep these things private and what you should and shouldn’t put online. In a contentious or litigated divorce, your spouse’s attorney will be searching for evidence against you. This includes reviewing old social media posts and anything new you post.
When you post about the divorce proceedings, your children, your spouse, new partners, or your current lifestyle, this can all be used as evidence. It’s better to avoid posting on these topics, and you should talk with your attorney about past posts.
How Social Media Can Affect the Division of Property
If your divorce is in court, property division is likely being handled by the court. In most states, property is divided by equitable distribution laws. This means that marital property is divided based on what the court decides is just and fair. How marital property is defined varies from state to state. The court may divide this marital property equally, but it is more common that it is divided unequally.
The court decides what is fair based on several factors, such as each party’s income and financial resources. If you post about lavish purchases, high-value assets, or expensive vacations, this could show that you have less need for more property. If you are claiming low resources, these posts could even be used as evidence that you are hiding assets during your divorce, which is illegal. These types of complications can make a divorce take longer and potentially cost you significant marital property.
How Social Media Can Affect Spousal Support
Spousal support is not a part of all divorce proceedings, but it can be used to give a lower-earning spouse time to attain financial security and stability. Similarly to the property division process, posts about expensive purchases or trips can affect claims of needing financial support.
Posts about a new partner can also affect claims for spousal support. If you are cohabiting with another partner, this will typically be used as evidence that you do not have a need for financial support. Social media posts about a partner can, therefore, affect spousal support requests.
How Social Media Can Affect Child Custody
Child custody determinations are often one of the most stressful parts of a divorce, especially when it is contentious and ligated. All legal decisions regarding children in family court are done with the child’s interests at the forefront. Depending on the state, the family court will consider different factors when deciding what is in a child’s interests. Some states presume that joint custody is preferred, while others don’t.
The ability of each parent to care for a child’s mental, physical, and moral health is an important consideration in child custody determinations. Posts about partying, controlled substances, gambling, dangerous weapons, or other similar behaviors and items can be used by your spouse’s attorney to show that you are irresponsible and unable to provide for your child’s interests.
In serious cases, posts can be used to show that you are endangering your child. All these can affect custody arrangements or even result in you being considered unfit for custody.
FAQs
Q: How Does Social Media Affect Divorce?
A: Social media use can affect a divorce, especially a contentious divorce, by being used as evidence. Spouses who are litigating a divorce are more likely to be at odds during the process, and their attorneys can use social media posts to sway decisions about spousal support, property division, child custody, and more. For example, posts of recent expensive purchases or vacations may be used to show that a spouse does not need as much financial support.
Q: Should I Delete Social Media When Going Through a Divorce?
A: While it is beneficial to refrain from using and posting on social media in a divorce, you do not want to delete old posts or accounts. It can be helpful instead to delete the applications from your phone so that you can avoid using them. However, deleting posts or accounts can be seen as suspicious or even evidence destruction. There are still methods that can recover deleted posts and accounts, so deleting them will only hurt your case.
Q: Can You Use Text Messages in Divorce Court in Indiana?
A: Yes, text messages may be used as relevant evidence in divorce court in Indiana, although there must be proof that they are authentic. To determine if a text message is relevant evidence in your divorce case, it’s important to discuss your case with an experienced divorce attorney. Text messages could be used as evidence of abuse, domestic violence, or other issues within a divorce case. They can also be used to show that a parent is an irresponsible caretaker.
Q: What Are the Fault Conditions for Divorce in Oklahoma?
A: Oklahoma has several fault conditions for divorce, which the filing party must prove in court through the use of evidence, like witness testimony, medical documents, social media information, and more. The grounds for a fault-based divorce include:
- Abandonment for a year
- Adultery
- Impotency
- Extreme cruelty
- Contract fraud
- Habitual drunkenness
- Neglect of duty
- Pregnancy by another party at the time of marriage
- Incarceration in state or federal prison for a felony
- Insanity for five years
- Invalid divorce decree
There are also no-fault grounds of incompatibility.
Contact Stange Law Firm
Although it is important to spend time with friends and get out of the house during a divorce, it is important that you are aware of what you should and should not put online. Your attorney can help you be cautious during these proceedings. Contact Stange Law Firm today.
