Social Networking and Divorce
The safety of social networking websites like Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter could spell danger to you if you aren’t careful while going through a divorce. Things once kept private can now be made known to the whole world with one click of a mouse. While that can be wonderful in the case of sharing a new birth, a child’s baptism, or a marriage, it could have devastating effects on you case for child custody during a divorce. The use of these type sites in divorce cases has become so prevalent that TIME magazine ran an article on it this past June. If you’d like to read the article, see the links at the end of this blog. Here are some of my suggestions.
First, watch what pictures you or your spouse put up on your account or that others put up of you on your account. Pictures of you drinking at a party or attending a party could be shown by your spouse’s divorce attorney to show that you are not the parent that should have custody. Even if you do not put the pictures up on your account, others may so make sure you are not in any of those albums either. For example, if your spouse states that he or she does not drink or party; pictures from their Myspace or Facebook could be used to prove that they do. From personal experience, I have seen a District Attorney use as evidence photos from a Myspace account as a basis to have someone arrested for violation of probation.
Second, do not tweet, make Facebook or Myspace statuses, or wall-posts disparaging your spouse. What you say on these mediums can be used against you. Be careful. If you have children, they probably have accounts and could possibly see these things, which could lead to some conflicts with the children. A general rule of thumb is if you would not want your Mom to see the picture or post, don’t do it.
This post is not intended to be legal advice, nor is an attorney-client relationship contemplated.
For the TIME article,
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1904147,00.htmlbr>
The safety of social networking websites like Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter could spell danger to you if you aren’t careful while going through a divorce. Things once kept private can now be made known to the whole world with one click of a mouse. While that can be wonderful in the case of sharing a new birth, a child’s baptism, or a marriage, it could have devastating effects on you case for child custody during a divorce. The use of these type sites in divorce cases has become so prevalent that TIME magazine ran an article on it this past June. If you’d like to read the article, see the links at the end of this blog. Here are some of my suggestions.
First, watch what pictures you or your spouse put up on your account or that others put up of you on your account. Pictures of you drinking at a party or attending a party could be shown by your spouse’s divorce attorney to show that you are not the parent that should have custody. Even if you do not put the pictures up on your account, others may so make sure you are not in any of those albums either. For example, if your spouse states that he or she does not drink or party; pictures from their Myspace or Facebook could be used to prove that they do. From personal experience, I have seen a District Attorney use as evidence photos from a Myspace account as a basis to have someone arrested for violation of probation.
Second, do not tweet, make Facebook or Myspace statuses, or wall-posts disparaging your spouse. What you say on these mediums can be used against you. Be careful. If you have children, they probably have accounts and could possibly see these things, which could lead to some conflicts with the children. A general rule of thumb is if you would not want your Mom to see the picture or post, don’t do it.
This post is not intended to be legal advice, nor is an attorney-client relationship contemplated.
For the TIME article,
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1904147,00.htmlbr>