How Social Media Can Impact Your Divorce

If you watch police dramas on television, you’ve probably heard the Miranda warning: “Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law”. This warning also holds true for using social media during a divorce. Social media is often used as evidence in divorce proceedings in South Florida. Let’s take a look at some of the many ways your social media posts can be used against you in a divorce:

• An innocuous-sounding post about going on vacation or buying a new car could give your ex-spouse ammunition to argue for a larger settlement, a larger alimony payment if they are receiving alimony, or a smaller alimony payment if they are paying the alimony.

• Posts with angry outbursts, name-calling, images showing you engaging in risky or dangerous behavior, or any other posts or images showing negative or anti-social behavior could cause you to lose timesharing or parenting rights. It will also likely make the judge more sympathetic to your ex-spouse.

• If you are connected to your minor children on social media and say anything that could be construed as negative about your ex-spouse, the ex-spouse may be able to claim you are trying to alienate them from the children, which can lead to you receiving reduced parenting time. These types of posts can also affect the emotional well-being of your children.

• If you are dating someone and post pictures showing the two of you together, your spouse may become jealous and angry, which can complicate negotiations and stall finalizing your divorce. Additionally, this can be used as evidence of adultery. While adultery is not a crime in Florida, if your spouse can prove that you spent marital funds on a new partner, they can receive a larger portion of the marital assets.

For all these reasons, when you are going through a divorce, the best option is to not post anything online, no matter how innocent it seems.

You should update your privacy settings to ensure only a small group of trusted friends and family have access to your accounts. Also, change your passwords and set up two- step authentication as soon as you begin thinking about seeking a divorce to help prevent your spouse from accessing your accounts. No matter how many safeguards you take, though, it’s important to remember that nothing on social media is truly private. Even if a post is only up for a few minutes, or you create a story rather than a post, someone can take a screenshot of it and send it to your ex-spouse.

Social media can also be used to your advantage: you can use your ex-spouse’s social media as evidence to support your claims as well.

If you live in Palm Beach County or South Florida and are considering filing for divorce, contact Troy Legal. We will fight for you to receive the best possible outcome in your divorce so you can start living the next chapter in your life.