Facebook, Twitter, and Divorce

If you are in the midst of a divorce, the rule regarding facebook, and twitter, is very simple....

DON'T    DO    IT

Removing your soon-to-be ex-spouse from your friends list, is not enough.  Removing that person's friends from your friends list, is not enough.

Trust me, I have seen it time and time again...
In the best of circumstances, I'll get an email or a telephone call from a client, letting me know that a friend of a friend of a friend, came across a post on facebook, or a tweet, that can be detrimental to the other side.  Sometimes, the source of information isn't even a friend (or a friend of a friend) of my client... but a friend of the poster/tweeter, who just wants to 'rub it in'.
In the worst of circumstances, I'll get a call or a letter from the attorney for the other side, referencing something that my client posted...  something that is detrimental to my client.

Sure, it's possible to remove a post, but once the damage has been done, it's difficult to undo it.  If even one person saw the post, and is willing to sign an affidavit, or testify, removing the post doesn't solve the problem.

And while I know we can't always control our family and friends, even well-meaning friends and family can cause damage.

Divorces can be difficult, there's no need to make them more difficult.  Having to explain to the court why there is/was a picture online, of you walking out of bar on the day you couldn't pick up the kids because you were at work...  doesn't make you look good.  Having the other side submit a picture of you and the children at a playground on the day you denied visitation because one of the kids was too sick...  doesn't make you look good.  Trying to explain to the judge that you didn't mean it, when you posted that you'd trashed the other side's possessions, that you now claim you didn't have --  well, it's a problem.

Yes, we've all gotten in the habit of 'venting', and getting out our frustrations by posting on Facebook, or Tweeting on Twitter, or even writing on our blog.
But while the divorce is going on...  Just Don't Do It.