The advent of the Internet and the popularity of social media have created challenges for attorneys in almost every legal field, including family law and divorce. Tweets, Facebook posts, Instagram photos, and their corresponding comments have been used as evidence in divorce proceedings, child custody battles, alimony actions, etc.
As family law and divorce lawyers serving clients in Duval, Clay, Nassau, and St. Johns counties, the Jacksonville family law attorneys at Owenby Law, P.A. of Jacksonville encourage our clients to refrain from making inflammatory comments about their spouses, posting information that would be counter to their legal interests, or even discussing their cases in any open social networking forum.
How Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram Can Damage Your Case
Consider the following examples and how they could adversely affect legal cases:
- A Jacksonville husband who is in the middle of a divorce proceeding advises his wife that he is traveling to New York on business, but Facebook's geographic indicator shows that he has been posting from Las Vegas, where he is with his mistress on a non-business trip.
- An Orange Park mother who has limited visitation, but is attempting to fight to restore full parental rights, posts a photograph on Instagram where she and her two-year-old are at an adult party where everyone is holding a bottle of beer and appears intoxicated.
- During an alimony negotiation, a successful Duval County litigation attorney Tweets about making partner in her law firm and alludes to a sizable increase in salary.
With these examples in mind, there are a few simple truths about social networking about which everyone should be aware:
- Because of porous security, almost all posts and comments are accessible to interested third parties.
- Posts by friends and family members may also be used against you in a family law proceeding.
- All modern computers and phones have screenshot applications, so even if you erase a post, an image of what you wrote may still exist.
- In most cases, your comments, posts, and photographs are admissible in a civil family law proceeding.
Professional Family Law Attorneys of Northern FL
If you reside in Duval, St. Johns, Clay, or Nassau County and you are interested in learning more about how social networking can adversely affect your divorce or child custody case, contact Jacksonville's premier family law firm. To schedule an appointment with one of Owenby Law, P.A.'s veteran divorce lawyers, call (904) 770-3141.