Nearly every issue in your divorce is going to open your life up to inspection. Your financial records can come under scrutiny, your parenting style will be analyzed, and your love life might be put under the microscope. That probably makes you uneasy, and rightfully so. After all, unscrupulous behavior that’s brought to the court’s attention could lead to devastatingly negative impacts on your life. Fortunately, there are ways to minimize the risk of this happening.
And even if you feel like you have nothing to hide in your divorce, you need to be careful. Your spouse might misconstrue and twist portions of your life out of context, leaving the court with a false impression. One way to protect yourself is by being cautious about your social media use.
How social media can derail your divorce
Many people who are going through a divorce turn to social media for support. These individuals also feel comfortable venting on their platforms so that they don’t end up saying something they regret to their spouse.
The problem is that your social media can quickly come into play in your divorce. Here’s how:
- Attacking assertions regarding finances: Property division, child support, and alimony all require an analysis of your financial well-being. Your spouse might use your social media posts to demonstrate that you have more money than you claim, even if this isn’t really the case. Again, this is because social media posts can be quickly twisted out of context.
- Arguing against your parenting abilities: Nearly everything is fair game when child custody is in dispute. Therefore, your spouse might use your posts to show that your parenting abilities are lacking. A photo of a single night out on the town could be used to show that you have an active partying lifestyle that isn’t conducive to effective parenting, and photos of you and a new love interest could be used to demonstrate that you put your love life above your children. Even when these assertions aren’t true, your social media posts leave the door open for argument.
- Turning friends against you: If you share friends with your spouse, then they might end up turning against you when you least expect it. As a result, even if you’ve been careful with privacy settings during your divorce, your posts, which you believe were made in confidence, can quickly be turned over to your spouse and used against you.
- Attacking your credibility: You want the court to believe what you have to say in your divorce proceedings. But your spouse might use your social media posts to draw out inconsistencies in your statements, which can jeopardize your credibility. If your reliability is thrown into question, then you might struggle to succeed on the arguments that you’re making on your position. Therefore, it’s a good idea to stop social media use and review your old posts to ensure that you’re not going to testify in a contrary way that could land you in a difficult position.
Carefully think through every aspect of your divorce
Nearly every aspect of your life can come into play when you’re in the middle of a divorce. That’s why before heading into the process you should carefully analyze the facts and evidence while being realistic about your weaknesses. This honest approach will help you develop the holistic divorce case that you need, and the one that will hopefully lead to the positive outcomes that you want and need.
