Social Media and the Impact it May Have in a Divorce Proceeding

It’s natural to experience many different emotions during a divorce. With social media playing such a big part in everyday life, it’s also likely that someone going through a divorce may use their social media to release their emotions and post about their divorce.

Many family law attorneys recommend deactivating all of your social media accounts during the pendency of your divorce. However, if you want to remain active on social media during your divorce, it’s very important to think twice about your posts before posting.

Following is a list of dos and don’ts of social media during the pendency of a divorce:

1. Don’t overshare. Essentially, your every move may be analyzed and scrutinized during your divorce. Comments, posts, photos, and videos are all examples of what someone may find on your social media account. Any of those could be used as an exhibit in Court by the other party.
2. Don’t show off any extravagant purchases. This is especially important in a divorce proceeding as the parties’ marital assets and debts are under consideration. The Court will question why any extraordinary expenses are being made.
3. Don’t post inappropriate pictures, videos, or threatening comments about your spouse. Understandably, one may experience strong and negative emotions throughout the pendency of a divorce. However, talking about those emotions in a safe and private space is important.  Don’t make the other side’s case for them.
4. Whether negative or positive - don’t post anything related to the judge, court facilitator, or mediator in your case on social media. During your divorce, you will make various court appearances and interact with a plethora of court employees. You may think negatively or positively about those court employees. In order for everyone to remain completely neutral and unbiased in your case, your thoughts about court employees should not be posted on social media. If you have concerns with these court employees, you should discuss them with your attorney privately.
5. Do only post about topics unrelated to your divorce or spouse. If you would like to remain active on social media during your divorce, this is the best way to ensure that your social media could not be used against you in Court.
6. Do keep all your social media accounts set on private. Keeping all of your accounts on social media private can help to ensure that the other party cannot see or have access to any part of your page, and it will be far less likely that your posts, comments, videos, and photos could be used as an exhibit in Court.

For more information, contact an experienced family law attorney at Jorgensen, Brownell & Pepin, P.C. today.