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In this modern day, social media connects us to friends, family members, and everyone in between. We share pictures of our days, comment on shared interests, post statuses about our favorite sports teams, and create event invites, all through social media applications. As convenient and entertaining as these diversions can be, however, they might be harmful to individuals going through a divorce.
When you’re going through a divorce, every move you make is subject to questioning, and even the smallest slip-up could be analyzed and magnified by your spouse and his or her attorney. Unfortunately, this means sharing information to social media could seriously damage your divorce case. In order to protect yourself, find out how social media could come back to bite you and discover what you can do to avoid any potential issues.
Revealing Your Spending Habits
Some of the things you post to social media could be used to give your spouse an impression of your spending habits. Regardless of whether or not their assumptions are accurate, your spouse may see a picture or read a status about your activities for the weekend and could use that information against you later in court. For example, you might post a picture of yourself enjoying a spa day, and your spouse might use this as evidence that you’re earning plenty on your own and do not need to receive spousal support.
Sharing Your Location
When you post something about your location, your spouse could use that information to back you into a corner. If you were late picking up your children but posted that you had been out to lunch with friends, this could look very bad in front of the judge. Likewise, if your ex has a restraining order against you and you post something about visiting the restaurant he or she works at, you could be charged with violating a protective order. In any case, sharing your specific whereabouts is not a good idea, it simply give your ex too much information about your daily life.
Venting About Personal or Legal Issues
It can be tempting to vent about your frustrations on social media, but during your divorce, this is never a good move. Even if you think you’re being cryptic, a subtle complaint about your ex or about a court date could enrage your ex or their family members, creating a dramatic issue that you’re stuck in the middle of. In short, this could create more problems than it solves. If you need to vent, talk to a close friend or family member and stay off of social media.
Potential Child Custody Complications
Again, anything you post on social media can be used against you in your divorce, so be mindful of what you share. Regardless of your intentions, anything you say or any photos you share could be twisted by your spouse and their attorney to paint you out as the bad guy. For example, you might share a picture of a glass of wine you’re drinking after a long day at work. Unfortunately, your ex could try to use this as evidence in a child custody case that you are an alcoholic. Or, if your children were staying with you that night, your ex might try to portray you as a negligent parent who is unfit to care for the children overnight. As awful or impossible as something like this may seem, it is entirely likely, which is why you need to be careful about what you share to social media.
The best thing you can do during your divorce is to avoid social media all together. You might think unfriending or blocking your spouse is enough, but they could still view your posts and profile through mutual friends or family members, even if you have privacy settings in place. However, deleting your social media accounts all together can look suspicious, so you might not want to do that either. Your best bet is to discuss the situation with your attorney and err on the side of caution when you aren’t sure if social media is a good idea or not.
Contact Casey, Simmons & Bryant, PLLCto speak with our Jackson divorce lawyers about your case.
