Can Your Social Media Activities Affect Your Divorce Case?

There was an era when people – family members, friends, relatives and married couples had only offline conversations. Yes there were hand-written letters and phone calls but there was no direct way to keep footage of what was being said. The common people did not have equipment to directly record phone calls. The invention of smartphones and the apps that are embedded into them changed this scenario for everyone.

Today there is a mobile in almost every hand and users have the ability to capture screenshots of messages, record the entire conversation of a call directly from the phone and save gigabytes of discussions in a drive. With these features people can use a new form of evidence in their divorce and child custody cases. Judges for settlement agreement in Aberdeen also make decisions on basis of social media evidence.

Social media can strongly impact a relationship and it is often a source of conflict resulting in breakdown of marriage. Divorce lawyers have observed that there has been an increase in the number of separation cases brought forward with evidence from the wide world of social media.

Let us now look into some examples of content that can lead to and become evidence in a divorce case:

Email and Text Messages

Most of the divorce lawyers on the Aberdeen solicitors list have seen that emails and text sent on messaging apps gets considered in courts and may also be subpoenaed. If a partner in marriage received an email talking about his / her new job or a bonus or if he / she discloses this information in a message (to someone) and failed to tell about it in court when financial information was inquired into, it may become an evidence that the person is not being honest about financial declarations. That is why divorce lawyers often advise their clients to avoid discussing sensitive information through recordable formats throughout divorce proceedings. If someone would not want his/her opponent and/or his lawyers to read something, it is advisable not to write it.

Information about finances

No rational person would mention their salary or income details on Facebook or Twitter. However, people can still end up disclosing their financial information and this can go against them in a divorce case.

As an example a person can claim to have low income so that he/she can avoid paying a high alimony or child support amount. During the same period if this person also uploads some pictures of lavish purchases or holidays abroad, the information can go against him / her in legal proceedings.

What if one of the partners had blocked another from his/ her social media account? The other party can still come to know about such content through mutual friends and the snapshots they take to assist in the case.Use of dating sites

People facing divorce proceedings should not create their profile on online dating apps before the outcome is finalised. Such a profile not only becomes a potential evidence for cheating but also reflects upon the hypocrisy of a person – he / she may not really be what people think about him / her in the real word. When someone gets caught saying something different on a dating site than what he/she said in court, it can cause problems in the divorce case.

If you are going through a difficult marital relationship or have already decided to apply for divorce, do not overlook this aspect - your spouse and his/ her lawyer will scan through your digital life to find all possible evidence against you.To stay safe, it is better to stay away from social media updates till the settlement of the divorce case. Also remember, that the idea is only to avoid using social media because some updates can get against you. Do not make the mistake of deleting the entire account in haste because that can may be considered destruction of important evidence that could even have helped to turn the balance in your favour.

Author Bio: DJP Solicitors is a team of family solicitors in Aberdeen. This is where you will find qualified and experienced lawyers who can represent you and help you turn the outcome in your favour. For details on services and to get an appointment, please call on 01224 590053.

Michael harley is a writer at Search Engine.