{"id":3956,"date":"2013-01-15T09:09:10","date_gmt":"2013-01-15T14:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/?p=3956"},"modified":"2013-01-15T09:09:10","modified_gmt":"2013-01-15T14:09:10","slug":"social-media-may-be-evidence-against-you-in-divorce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2013\/01\/social-media-may-be-evidence-against-you-in-divorce.html","title":{"rendered":"Social Media May Be Evidence Against You in Divorce"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) found that increasing numbers of attorneys are relying on social networking evidence in their cases.\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-3958\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2013\/01\/man-and-IPAD.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"283\" height=\"400\" \/><\/a>Up against a tough situation with your divorce or child custody case?<\/p>\n<p>Family law attorney, <a title=\"Christian Badali\" href=\"http:\/\/wglaw.com\/attorneys\/186\/\" target=\"_blank\">Christian Badali<\/a>, a partner at <a title=\"Weber Galladher\" href=\"http:\/\/www.wglaw.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Weber Gallagher<\/a> says, shut down your social media. It can be used against you.<\/p>\n<p>The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) found that increasing numbers of attorneys are relying on social networking evidence in their cases. According to their records, about one in five cases cite Facebook.\u00a0Social media has been used to determine a person&#8217;s state of mind, and show evidence of actions, time and place and communication between people. Take Jack for example. He claimed he couldn&#8217;t work due to his disability, but pictures on Facebook proved otherwise. \u00a0Sandy posted defamatory comments about her ex and those were used against her in court. Jill posted pictures of herself with her boyfriend, then was found guilty of an affair because of the date of her photos.<\/p>\n<p>If you refuse to stay off \u00a0social media, Badali and his partner Andrew Taylor, provide these 8 tips:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>1) If you choose to keep your social media pages active, be vigilant in monitoring them.\u00a0<\/strong>Remove any compromising photos or comments that others post about you or tag you in.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>2) Privacy settings.<\/strong>\u00a0 If you don\u2019t know how to lock them down as tightly as possible, now is the time to learn.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>3) Be careful of what is in the \u201cprivate\u201d portion of your Facebook page, too (messages, etc.).<\/strong>\u00a0 There are judges who have ordered the parties in a divorce case to exchange usernames and passwords to each other\u2019s social media pages.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>4) Change your Facebook password to something your ex would not guess.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>It\u2019s possible that a vindictive ex could log into your social media profile, make damaging posts in your name and then use these posts against you in court.\u00a0 Sound fictitious?\u00a0 It happens<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>5) Resist the temptation to vent about your ex on social media.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Whether it\u2019s an intentional slight or not, anything you post on social media can be used against you in a divorce proceeding.\u00a0 Tread carefully.<\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><strong>6)\u00a0Stop checking in.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0There is nothing more damaging to parents claiming they cannot pay child support as when they \u201ccheck in\u201d at an expensive restaurant or airport to leave for a vacation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>7)\u00a0Be especially sensitive to the awkward position your mutual friends are in when a couple is breaking up<\/strong>.\u00a0 It may sound harsh, but sometimes \u201cunfriending\u201d mutual friends \u2013 not just friends of your ex \u2013 may be the safest option until the divorce is finalized.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>8)\u00a0Remember the basic rule of all social media.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Before writing a post, making a comment or sharing a photo, think to yourself, \u201cWould I be comfortable if millions of people \u2013 not just those in my personal network \u2013 saw this?\u201d\u00a0 When in doubt, don\u2019t post.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Bottom line, think before you post! And remember, when you are defaming your ex, he or she is the parent of your child\/children. What kind of an example does that set for your children?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Up against a tough situation with your divorce or child custody case? Family law attorney, Christian Badali, a partner at Weber Gallagher says, shut down your social media. It can be used against you. The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) found that increasing numbers of attorneys are relying on social networking evidence in their&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[913],"tags":[132,1969,967,1968,234],"class_list":["post-3956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-couple-relationships","tag-divorce","tag-divorce-and-social-media","tag-facebook","tag-relationships-and-social-media","tag-social-media"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Social Media May Be Evidence Against You in Divorce<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2013\/01\/social-media-may-be-evidence-against-you-in-divorce.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Social Media May Be Evidence Against You in Divorce\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Up against a tough situation with your divorce or child custody case? Family law attorney, Christian Badali, a partner at Weber Gallagher says, shut down your social media. It can be used against you. The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) found that increasing numbers of attorneys are relying on social networking evidence in their&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2013\/01\/social-media-may-be-evidence-against-you-in-divorce.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-01-15T14:09:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2013\/01\/man-and-IPAD.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Social Media May Be Evidence Against You in Divorce","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2013\/01\/social-media-may-be-evidence-against-you-in-divorce.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Social Media May Be Evidence Against You in Divorce","og_description":"Up against a tough situation with your divorce or child custody case? Family law attorney, Christian Badali, a partner at Weber Gallagher says, shut down your social media. It can be used against you. The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) found that increasing numbers of attorneys are relying on social networking evidence in their&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2013\/01\/social-media-may-be-evidence-against-you-in-divorce.html","og_site_name":"Doing Life Together","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","article_published_time":"2013-01-15T14:09:10+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2013\/01\/man-and-IPAD.jpg"}],"author":"Linda Mintle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@drlindamintle","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2013\/01\/social-media-may-be-evidence-against-you-in-divorce.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2013\/01\/social-media-may-be-evidence-against-you-in-divorce.html","name":"Social Media May Be Evidence Against You in Divorce","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2013\/01\/social-media-may-be-evidence-against-you-in-divorce.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2013\/01\/social-media-may-be-evidence-against-you-in-divorce.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2013\/01\/man-and-IPAD.jpg","datePublished":"2013-01-15T14:09:10+00:00","dateModified":"2013-01-15T14:09:10+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2013\/01\/social-media-may-be-evidence-against-you-in-divorce.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2013\/01\/social-media-may-be-evidence-against-you-in-divorce.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2013\/01\/social-media-may-be-evidence-against-you-in-divorce.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2013\/01\/man-and-IPAD.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2013\/01\/man-and-IPAD.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2013\/01\/social-media-may-be-evidence-against-you-in-divorce.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Social Media May Be Evidence Against You in Divorce"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/","name":"Doing Life Together","description":"Relationship Doctor, Mental Health, Emotional Wellness, Relationship Advice &amp; Entertainment","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142","name":"Linda Mintle","description":"It is rare that a trained academic who speaks passionately to the heart of people providing real answers to real life problems is so relatable. Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. Check out her latest book Hope and Healing for Anxiety, a whole-person approach to eliminate anxiety. .","sameAs":["https:\/\/drlindamintle.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/x.com\/drlindamintle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/author\/lmintle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3956"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3956\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3965,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3956\/revisions\/3965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}