Many Americans use social media daily, but what happens when it interferes with divorce proceedings? This blog will discuss how social media affects divorce proceedings and how to behave online during a divorce.
Why is your behavior on social media important when filing for divorce?
What you post on social media can profoundly affect the outcome of your divorce. Your ex-spouse may use social media posts against you, as they can be shown as evidence in court. What you post online may affect your life years after your divorce in regard to alimony payments, legal fees, and child custody arrangements.
Things to do
There are several ways to ensure your social media pages won’t negatively affect your divorce. Here are a few examples:
Passwords and privacy
First, make sure you change your password if your spouse has access to your account. You may consider unfriending them so that they won’t automatically see your posts. Change your privacy settings so only friends may view your posts. You can also set the privacy settings for individual posts to hide them from specific people (such as your ex-spouse’s best friend, who may share your online posts with them).
Friends and family posts
Explain your situation to family and friends, and ask them to avoid posting negatively about your ex-spouse or the divorce in general. Restrict your page so that friends cannot tag you in pictures or posts without your approval. This will avoid you getting tagged at a location you do not want other people to see or show an activity you do not want others to witness.
Avoid posting entirely
The best way to ensure that social media will not affect your divorce proceedings is not to use it. This may be challenging, but a break from social media may be a positive experience during this time. If it does not seem feasible to stay off social media entirely, at least avoid posting about your divorce or ex-spouse.
Things to avoid
You should avoid doing many things on social media during divorce proceedings. Here are just a few things to avoid:
Sharing details about social status
Do not post about new luxury purchases such as cars, boats, expensive jewelry, or vacations. These posts may indicate that you make more money than you claim and can be used by your spouse to demand additional alimony or child support payments.
Posting about partying, drinking, or using drugs
There is never a good time to post about your drinking or partying habits on social media, but it is imperative when going through a divorce. Posting negative behavior could be used as evidence that you cannot take on the responsibility of being a single parent and may affect child custody arrangements.
Discussing a new relationship
Keep your relationship status as “married” until your divorce is finalized. Do not post pictures or share statuses about being in a new relationship until your divorce is final.
Posting after your divorce
Once your divorce is finalized, avoid posting pictures or posts that show partying or harmful behavior. Also, avoid speaking negatively about your spouse or how they parent. You will also want to avoid sharing lavish spending habits or substantial job promotions, as they may affect alimony or child support.
Frank P. Remsen, Lake County divorce attorney
Frank P. Remsen is an experienced divorce attorney that will fight for you during your divorce and help you transition to a new chapter in your life. Call us at 352-309-0970 for a low cost initial consultation.
