We all know that you shouldn’t put things like your home address or phone number on facebook. But a lot of people put things on Facebook that can really ‘come back to bite you’. Talking to a good friend in person or on the phone is one thing, but typing some things onto Facebook can cause very severe repercussions, especially if you are in some sort of legal situation. Privacy settings get changed relatively often these days and you really don’t know who is reading what you post.
In fact, you should always assume that whatever you post is being seen by everyone, including your soon-to-be-ex or his/her attorney and the Guardian Ad Litem that has been assigned to help the court make a custody decision. Posting derogatory remarks about your spouse often backfires and leads the decision-makers to think poorly about you and your ability to co-parent your children effectively.
Talking about a new boyfriend and what a great weekend you spent together with your kids will possibly send you back to court when your children’s father points out that there was a court order that did not allow you to have overnight visitors of the opposite sex when the children were present.
Talking about your adventures on the new horse at the stable where you ride will not show you in a good light when you are brought into court for failure to provide the child for visitation and your excuse was that you are in a high-risk pregnancy that does not allow you to drive for over an hour to bring your child to his other parent after you moved away to be in a different state with your new husband.
Stories and pictures of you skiing do not help when you are trying to get disability or workman’s comp because of a back injury.
Bragging about having a new wide-screen TV that ‘fell off the back of the truck’ just might show up as evidence in a criminal investigation.
A picture of you with someone might be used as evidence that you and the person knew each other even though you say you never met.
Pictures of you with your ‘friend’ might just show up in your divorce proceeding as evidence of an extra-marital affair. Or pictures of you out drinking with your buds might just show up in your custody case.
And don’t forget that potential employers might be reading when you write that your job is soooo boring and the time and date stamp of the post shows that you post on Facebook a lot while you are supposedly working. I especially like the posts that tell the world that you think your boss is a ___ (fill in the blank).
You might think I’m just making this stuff up, but I’m not. These things are really happening.
Text messages and Facebook posts are showing up more often in legal actions and they can often derail your legal plans.
Just be careful of what you post. Remember that what you post, or what comments you make, are not just being seen by your closest friends. Your fiercest enemy might also be watching!
If you have any questions about this or any other legal subject, please feel free to give us a call at 757-234-4650 or visit our website at http://www.BeaversLaw.com.
Tags: Best Interest, Children, Court Order, criminal, Custody, Divorce, Facebook, Family Law, legal, parenting, text message