There are over 1 billion Facebook users in the world. Many Montgomery residents enjoy expressing themselves on that social media outlet, as well as countless others. Whether contributing a status update or uploading a picture, over 618 million users have been active daily on Facebook. While most of the information posted is innocuous, there is a great deal of online evidence that can influence the outcome of many divorce cases, especially those involving child custody.
Whether it’s an embarrassing picture after a night of drinking or a status update filled with hatred directed at an ex-spouse, the elements of social media can come back to haunt many individuals. According to the American Association of Matrimonial Lawyers, 81 percent of all divorce cases last year used some form of social media as evidence against one of the parties.
A racy picture, for instance, can make a person appear like an unfit parent for child custody. Likewise, a nasty email sent in the heat of the moment can show anger problems. Whatever the case may be, divorcing parents should be careful what they post on the internet. A few months ago a father was charged with a felony count of failure to pay child support after he posted a picture of himself with a wad of cash. The bottom line is to be careful and think ahead when posting on the internet.
A helpful rule of thumb is to treat every post as if a judge or child can see it. The world does not always need to know about how drunk an individual got one night or how much they hate their ex. By self-censoring their own social media, many Montgomery residents can be spared the extra trouble in their child custody case.
Source: The Washington Times, “Email, texting can become a WMD during a divorce or custody case,” Myra Fleischer, April 23, 2013
