Social Media Tips for Your Family Law Case
Ask yourself, “Do I want to see this photo, Facebook rant, Tweet, or [fill in the blank] to be attached as Exhibit A to a document filed in my Court file?” If the answer is no, you probably want to think twice before you hit “enter”.
Co-parenting or just being involved in any family law case – divorce, custody dispute, contempt, will likely involve increased tensions and tempers may flare at times. So not surprisingly, people will often take to Facebook to rant about their ex after a visitation exchange or shoot off a Tweet to get some validation for their feelings, and give little thought to the fact that all of this “sharing” to their nearest and dearest 450 friends or followers is evidence that can be used against them in their family law case. Even if your Parenting Plan does not contain a specific provision that says, “Neither party shall disparage the other party, especially in front of the children”, it just doesn’t look good if you’re bad mouthing your ex on Facebook. That also goes for your new significant other – it’s not a good idea if they are the ones ranting about your ex on social media. That may very well be Exhibit B.
Just the same, you may not be posting about the other party – you may be posting about you. Your frequent posts showing the aftermath of yet another drunken all-nighter or selfies with a table full of empties may help your ex make a credible argument about their concerns of your substance abuse (alcohol or drugs) which may impact your parenting. Or it could even be an innocent post giving a big shout out to your baby girl when you take her to get her first tattoo at age 15, except that your Parenting Plan provides for joint decision making for tattoos and the first your ex knows of this unilateral decision is seeing your post. Mark that as Exhibit C.
Basic rule of thumb – if you wouldn’t want a Judge reading it, or worse still your child, then don’t post it!
What if I’m reading this and have an “uh-oh” moment about all of the “evidence” posted on my social media accounts. Can I delete it? There are CLE classes for legal professionals devoted to this very topic and what I learned recently is that ethically, yes, we can tell you that it is okay for you to clean up your social media accounts, BUT, and listen carefully, don’t delete the posts or tweets. You have to “preserve the evidence” which means keep a copy. If you are served with discovery requests – interrogatories and requests for production for example – which ask if you have made social media posts about your ex and to provide a copy, deleting them overnight and answering “No” is not a good action plan.
If you have a family law case that involves children – whether you were married or not – then even when the case is “done”, you still have to figure out how to co-exist and co-parent with your ex at least until the youngest is 18. Hostile co-parenting hurts everyone. Keeping that in mind, it’s a good idea to be mindful about what you say, what you post and what you tweet.
