If you are like most people heading towards or in the midst of a divorce, you have at least some type of social media presence. You may be on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or some other platform. You may also be like many individuals seeking a New Jersey divorce and not fully appreciate the potential interaction between social media and divorce.
There are a number of ways in which the opposition in a New Jersey marriage dissolution case may take advantage of our social media activities to your detriment. With this in mind, there are a number of matters you need to bear in mind when it comes to social media and divorce and opposing counsel in your case.
Your Social Media Activity as Evidence in Your Divorce Case
Be well aware that if you find yourself in the midst of a contested divorce, your spouse’s attorney is likely to consider your social media activity. The reality is that time and again people getting a divorce take major missteps to their detriment through their social media usage. In other words, when it comes to social media and divorce, opposition attorneys are able to mine evidence from social media platforms that can then be used as evidence in the marriage dissolution proceedings.
A key point to keep in mind is that you may not even realize you have posted something detrimental to your position in your divorce case when you put it up. Creative lawyers can find evidence on your social media platforms that seems on the surface to be unthreatening to your positions in your New Jersey marriage dissolution case.
Privacy Settings are Not Foolproof
If you are like many individuals, you may think you can rely on privacy settings associated with your social media accounts to protect you from anything you post being used against you in divorce proceedings. While privacy settings can be helpful, you need to bear in mind that they are not foolproof. Odds are that even with stringent privacy settings, items you post will come to the attention of your spouse and then your spouse’s New Jersey divorce lawyer:
- You may have people on your active social media list (friends on Facebook, for example) who are in contact with your spouse, may even be in your spouse’s proverbial corner in regard to your divorce case. In other words, these people may intentionally be reporting information you post on your social media.
- There may also be instances in which a friend or family member on one of your social media pages may share information about posts you make with no ill intent. Such exposures of information on your page may also end up in the hands of your spouse and your spouse’s legal counsel.
Limit What You Post
Some New Jersey divorce attorneys actually have strict policies when it comes to social media and divorce. In a moment, this will be discussed more fully. For now it suffices to note that some divorce attorneys are firm in recommending that their clients suspend social media usage while a divorce case is pending.
The reality is that stopping the use of social media may prove difficult if not impossible for some people. This is even the case when a person is well versed on the risks of social media participation during a divorce. Therefore, a more reasonable and manageable approach is to significantly limit your use of social media during divorce.
The simplest tactic is to cut back the amount of time you use on social media while you are going through a New Jersey marriage dissolution case. If nothing else, by spending less time on social media, you lessen the odds that you will post something that causes harm to your position in your divorce case.
Follow Your New Jersey Divorce Attorney’s Advice
Finally, when it comes to social media and divorce, follow the advice of your New Jersey divorce lawyer. This includes any advice that your divorce attorney may offer to you in regard to how to address your social media usage during the course of a New Jersey marriage dissolution proceeding. Call us today at (201) 845-7400 for a consultation.
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