A previous post on this blog talked about how a careless social media post on Facebook or Twitter, or one written hurriedly or in anger, can came back to haunt a man who is trying to forge a relationship with his child through custody or parenting time.
To follow up on this post, social media posts can also affect a man’s position in a dispute over property, spousal support and the like should he be going through a divorce, a formal legal separation or even just a an informal breakup.
Lawyers who have knowledge of family law almost unanimously reported just a few short years ago that they are seeing a spike in information coming from mobile devices. Usually, this came via the use of a mobile app like Facebook or, less commonly, Twitter or Instagram. Interestingly, even apps that are not social media, like Google Maps, were also being used in these sorts of cases.
Although of course every case is different, the standard advice is that men going through a family law issue, including a high-asset divorce, should just avoid the use of social media altogether or, at least, as much as possible.
Those who choose to use social media should be mindful that what they post could be used against them in court. Moreover, it is also important to remember that, usually, it does not take a lot of sophistication for one’s social media posts to get in to the wrong hands. Often, a social media friend or contact will leak the information to the other party.