As an
Austin
family law attorney, I believe that it’s always a bad idea to
post inappropriate or risqué content on the internet (namely Facebook), and
it’s an even worse idea to do it during your divorce or
Austin child
custody battle. This information
can be used against you in court, often by surprise.
One of the most common examples
revolves around alcohol use or illicit relationships. People will swear in Court that they do not
drink excessively or haven’t been seeing someone “on the side,” only to have
personally provided photographic evidence to the contrary. And the risk doesn’t just stop at what you post, since friends can tag you in
photos and post comments on your wall.
Facebook also creates
a tempting forum for venting or airing grievances against your soon to be
ex. However, all it takes is one mutual
acquaintance to provide this information to the opposing party, even a post
that you feel is relatively harmless could be taken out of context in court and
damaging to your case, especially since judges never like to hear one party
disparaging the other.
Out of an abundance of caution, I
recommend that my clients take the following precautions:
- Temporarily suspend their social media
accounts while the case is pending, or,
- At a very minimum, make sure that their ex,
their ex’s friends and family, and the general public cannot access their
profiles. Remember: people who are
tagged in your photos and posts and
their friends may see those photos and posts as well
- Consider who can post on their timeline
- Consider who can see what others post on their
timeline
- Consider who can see posts you've been tagged
in on their timeline
- Consider who can see old posts on their
timeline
With that being said, I strongly urge
my clients to avoid inappropriate behavior altogether, whether or not they’ve
chosen to document it.
