Divorce Lawyers Love Twitter, Facebook

Divorce lawyer group says dealt with evidence culled from social networks

As if you needed another reason to avoid Facebook, according to The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers it's the favorite social network for lawyers to scour for evidence in divorce cases.

That status update at 3 p.m. from playing Mafia Wars when you were supposed to be picking up the kids from school? Say goodbye to equal custody.

Your "secret" lover who hasn't fixed her privacy settings since the last update? Yeah, the photos of you together are now Exhibit A.

The AAML says that 81 percent of members polled had seen evidence from social networks in the courtroom, with 66 percent saying the evidence came from Facebook, 15 percent from MySpace and 5 percent from Twitter.

"People are just blabbing things all over Facebook. People don't yet quite connect what they're saying in their divorce cases is completely different from what they're saying on Facebook," family law attorney Leslie Matthews tells the Associate Press.

Tips for not getting fleeced by your ex include not contradicting your sworn statements online; be careful what you say about your ex in front of mutual friends online; don't upload photos of yourself engaging in questionable behavior; and study the nuances of privacy controls.

Better yet, just stay away from Facebook.

Jackson West has yet to appear in the nude on Facebook, as far as he knows.

Copyright FREEL - NBC Local Media
Contact Us