Texting, Social Media and Divorce

Going through a divorce is indeed a difficult emotional experience. It is tempting to post status updates to your friends on social media. You want to vent about injustices you feel from your soon-to-be ex-spouse. You may say something you plan on doing to get revenge. You are tempted to post photos that you hope may make him or her jealous. At Springer & Lyle, we strongly urge you to completely avoid social media during your divorce proceedings.

No Matter Your Privacy Settings, Your Social Media Postings Can Be Used Against You

You may wonder how a simple social media post could hurt you. Anything you post can be discovered by your spouse’s attorney. These posts can hurt you during your divorce process in several ways.

• Effect on your financial settlement. If you post photos of a major new purchase, like an automobile for example, or mention a trip, or talk about treating your friends to drinks or dinner, you may jeopardize settlement negotiations even if your posts are bragging and not a true representation of your financial situation.
• Effect on child custody and visitation. If you talk about, or post photos of you being out with your friends a lot, drinking alcohol, or doing “wild and crazy” things, your spouse may claim you are not fit to have custody of the children.
• Anything you post can be used against you. Even though posts just show a snippet of time, any comment you make or photo you post can be manipulated and used against you in some way. If you post what you think is a justified complaint about your spouse, your spouse can interpret your post as unfair anger and rage.

Avoid Sending Angry and Hostile Texts to Your Spouse

As tempting as it might be to really tell your spouse off in a text message, do not do it for the same reasons you should avoid social media. You may feel like you can say things in a text that are difficult to say in person. But, your tone of voice does not come through in a text. Texts have been used to show unfitness for custody, irrational spending habits, adultery, and more all to your detriment.

Attorney Daniel Abasolo at Springer & Lyle can help you through the divorce process in a way that reduces animosity and helps you make decisions that are in the best interests of the entire family. Contact us at 940.387.0404 to schedule your family law consultation with Mr. Abasolo or one of our other experienced family law attorneys.