Is Social Media Affecting Your Child Custody Case?
It’s no surprise that social media is a huge part of many peoples’ lives. And, some people tend to vent about anything and everything on their social media channels, without necessarily thinking about potential consequences down the line. One of these potential consequences can become a real concern if you find yourself in the middle of a custody battle and/or a messy divorce. Your social media can play an influential role in time-sharing schedule arrangements.
Social Media and Child Custody Cases
When you’re going through a divorce or a child custody battle, everything in your life comes under a strong microscope. Assets and expenditures are far from the only things that your ex’s lawyer is interested in. If you’re active on social media and post about your personal life a lot, the other side can try to use even seemingly innocent things against you.
It should seem like common sense, but photos of you intoxicated and sitting on some person’s lap at that friend’s party on a Monday night may not look so well blown up in court. Making disparaging remarks about your ex’s parenting style, or even passive aggressive comments, can be misconstrued and interpreted incorrectly. Dating someone new? It’s pretty much a given that the other side is going to look into that person and their social media as a way to suggest that you are keeping your child around unsavory individuals.
You may be tempted to remove old photos or posts in anticipation of an upcoming hearing; however, the other side may ask for those deleted posts and photos to be produced during proceedings. Deleted or not, remember that the other side is looking for any opportunity to take a post or photo out of context to help support their contention that you are a bad parent.
Now, there is a silver lining here. Just as social media has the potential to affect you negatively during a custody battle, it can have the same effect on your ex as well. Your ex will be under the same microscope, and you may be able to help collect critical information that helps support your petition for custody. This is why it’s crucial to hire a skilled Florida family law attorney to represent you in a custody battle and/or divorce.
Remember in situations where a protective order is active, you are prohibited from contacting each other for any reason. Contacting them via social media can be construed as a violation, and so can posting something about your ex in a public social media post. There are instances where judges have determined that a public post about an ex-partner can be a form of harassment.
Text Messages and Family Law
In addition to comments and posts on your social media channels, text messaging can be a source of problems as well. It’s easy to say something you regret in the heat of the moment, but when you text those thoughts, there is a permanent record that can be used against you. Threatening your ex-spouse/partner via text message with messages that threaten them with never seeing their child/children again or demanding they stop seeing someone new, etc., may be admissible in court.
Hiring a Boca Raton Family Law Attorney
If you’re preparing for a child custody dispute and/or divorce, our team of Boca Raton child custody attorneys work tirelessly to get the desired parental custody agreement for their client(s). However, you need to not help the other side’s case by posting unflattering information and photos on social media. Contact the Law Offices of Schwartz | White at 561-391-9943 or online to schedule a consultation.
