Lawyers Warn Clients to Be Careful with Social Networking Sites

June 16,2009

Social networking sites, such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter are all ways for individuals to stay connected with family and friends and share information with the people that they love. However, divorce lawyers are now warning their clients- both male and female to be careful what they post or “tweet” to the world, because it just might be picked up by their soon-to-be- exes.

Oftentimes, clients are advised to either block their former spouses from their pages or carefully monitor anything that they or their new girlfriends or boyfriends say which could be used in divorce proceedings. Messages about children could pop up in court custody battles. Likewise, if a man’s girlfriend boasts about her new tennis bracelet, his ex-wife may use this to dispute the distribution of marital assets.

Even professional sites such as LinkedIn can be used in divorce proceedings. For example, if a woman claims that she is unable to pursue a job, yet she is found looking for interviews on the networking site, the judge may rule that she is indeed capable of work and therefore less deserving of alimony.