Should You Use Social Media During Divorce?
The Discovery Phase, Technology And Social Media In Your Divorce Case
- Have you found incriminating photos of your partner on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter?
- Have they sent you upsetting text messages or left you terrifying voice mails?
- Do you suspect your partner of cheating but you don’t know what to do?
The evidence gathered from cellphones and social media sites can help you or hurt you significantly in your divorce.
At at Abbott, Abbott & Logan, PC, we have seen it all, from cheating spouses posting pictures of their latest date online to cruel text messages and emails. This sort of information can help your divorce case in Georgia as a victim of harassment or infidelity.
Our lawyers can help you leverage the benefits of the information age to help your case in many ways, including:
- Establishing grounds for divorce
- Increasing your alimony payments and child support awards
- Making you more likely to get primary custody of your children
Of course, if you are on the other side, the damage may be irreversible, and only strong and proactive tactics from your lawyer can minimize it.
The Stickiness Of Social Media And Other Digital Messages
Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Snapchat have become so immensely popular that they are now often brought up as evidence in divorce cases. During a divorce case, social media posts and messages can be used as tools for discovery. Messages, events, photos, videos and other media can be brought as evidence to significantly damage or benefit your case.
If you have incriminating evidence showing your spouse in a bad light, the first thing you should do is preserve the evidence. Be sure to save a copy of everything to share with your attorney.
- Social media posts, photos, videos and events can disappear from social media sites. They may be recoverable, but you should preserve as much information as you can before it is erased. Take screen shots of your computer screen, save copies of photos and videos, and collect what you can from friends’ accounts.
- Text messages and voice mails: Some cellphone companies delete voice mails and text messages after a certain period of time. Email the text, photo or voice mail to yourself or save it on your computer to make sure it doesn’t vanish.
- Emails: Preserve everything you can in a special folder for your lawyer to review with you.
Our lawyers are tech-savvy and will help you search the social media sites if you are not familiar with doing so yourself. If necessary, we can even hire a private investigator to help find the facts.
Schedule A Consultation With One Of Our Lawyers
We look forward to meeting with you. Please call our firm in Marietta, at (678) 290-7650 and Canton at (678) 293-7251 to schedule a meeting. We are also available and responsive through secure email.
