Social media can be a great place to connect with others and vent your frustrations. Despite this value, though, social media posts can prove problematic in divorce. This is because your spouse will likely scour your social sites to look for evidence that they can use against you. This is an effective weapon in today’s legal arena, too. Therefore, even one seemingly innocuous social media post could put you in a bad position in your marriage dissolution, threatening the outcome that you want and that you’ve worked so hard to secure.
Before you can effectively protect yourself from social media posts, you have to understand how this evidence is used in divorce cases. Here are some of the most powerful ways in which your spouse may try to use your posts:
- To show parental deficiencies: If child custody is on the table, then your spouse will try to utilize your social media posts to show that you’re unfit to care for your child. This will be in an attempt to limit the amount of time that you get to spend with your child and to manipulate what that time will look like. For example, your spouse might use a posted photo of a night out to try to paint you as someone with an alcohol abuse issue that isn’t conducive to safe parenting. They might also use harmful statements you’ve posted about them to show that you won’t encourage a relationship between the child and the other parent, which could prove detrimental in your case.
- To address property division issues: Your social media posts may also have an impact on how property division is handled in your divorce. For example, posts showing that you’ve bought a new car or are going on expensive vacations may tilt the scales in the property division process given that the court is tasked with fairly dividing the martial estate. If you look like you’re doing pretty well for yourself during divorce proceedings, then the court may be more inclined to give additional resources to your spouse to help ensure they can acquire a similar standard of living.
- To defend against a request for spousal support: Spousal support can provide you with a financial lifeline once your divorce is finalized. But your social media posts can jeopardize your ability to secure those resources. For example, if you portray yourself on social media as living a lavish lifestyle but then are requesting alimony from your spouse, they’re probably going to use your social media posts to try to show that you’re self-sufficient. If the court agrees, then your request for spousal support will likely be denied.
How can you defend against the use of harmful social media posts?
By using the rules of evidence, you might be able to block some posts from being admitted against you at trial. Also, you can try to contextualize the posts, arguing that they don’t portray what your spouse claims they do. Lastly, don’t get so caught up in dealing with social media posts that you neglect to address the other evidence available to you. This additional evidence could give you everything needed to secure your position and achieve the outcome you want.
Don’t let a bad social media post derail your divorce case
We understand the urge to post on social media, especially when you’re upset with the way your divorce is unfolding. But you should do your best to refrain from posting. After all, venting your frustrations could come back to bite you. If you have questions about how to deal with a social media post or social media evidence in general, then be sure to discuss it with your attorney so that you have an idea of how best to advance your interests in your marriage dissolution.