Social Media and Your Family Law Case

There is no doubt that social media and technological advances impact every corner of our lives, including divorce and other family law matters. An upset wife blasts her husband’s indiscretions on Facebook. Your wife’s new boyfriend posts pictures of their lavish weekend getaway. You find pages and pages of porn on your husband’s laptop. Your ex rewards your eight-year-old child with a fully equipped smartphone. While some information found on social media can be invaluable, other information that you obtain by hacking your spouse’s email account may subject you to criminal prosecution.

Social Media Postings Are Fair Game

Anything that you post on social media can be used as fodder in your divorce or family law proceedings. Parties to court proceedings, as well as their attorneys, often turn to social media to see what dirt they can turn up on the other party. Everything that you post is likely admissible in court, whether it reflects on your poor parenting or weekend partying tendencies. Therefore, take some basic precautions and simply don’t post or tweet any comments or pictures; even the most innocuous of comments or pictures can start off a firestorm, even if they were completely taken out of context. Don’t accept friend requests on Facebook or Instagram from people you don’t know. It is quite common for individuals to create false profiles simply in an attempt to gain access to information about you and your friends.

Avoid Disclosing Private Information

You also should take some basic precautions to protect your electronic presence and personal information, particularly when a relationship has gone south. Change your passwords, change your privacy settings to the highest protection level possible, and inspect your accounts periodically in order to ensure that no one has hacked them. Turn off the location settings in your phone, which can be used to track your every movement.

Safeguard Any Relevant Information

There is some information that may be helpful and admissible in your court case. For instance, texts or email messages from your ex about failing to pick up your kids may be relevant if your ex is trying to get additional time to spend with your children. Facebook posts that your spouse makes on his own page or posts to his LinkedIn profile also may be useful, depending on the content. Keep careful records of these messages and posts so that your attorney can review them and determine whether they are helpful to your case.

Contact Your Family Law Attorney for Help

If you are facing a divorce, or any other type of family law case, an experienced Fort Lauderdale family law attorney is what you need. When you are struggling with the high emotions that often accompany a family law case, it can be very tempting to resort to social media to vent about your feelings. This is where we can be of assistance to you. Contact Vanessa L. Prieto Law Offices, LLC, today, and let us work with you to resolve your legal issues as efficiently and successfully as possible.