Articles Posted in Divorce Discovery

A case out of Ohio provides a telling reminder of why you really need to stay away from Facebook during a divorce – or really any criminal proceeding. Sure, it’s nice to have a place to rant and converse with your online friends. But you need to remember that what you write on Facebook is never completely private (no matter what your security settings are at) and the court can (and often does) find out about it.

The case involves a man who was ordered to stay away from his wife and to refrain from doing anything to cause her “to suffer physical and/or mental abuse, harassment, annoyance, or bodily injury.” The order also affected his rights to visit with his son, so he was understandably upset. What he should have done was converse, in person or on the phone, with his friends or others who could offer emotional support. What he did do was log onto Facebook and post:

“. . . if you are an evil, vindictive woman who wants to ruin your husband’s life and take your son’s father away from him completely – all you need to do is say that you’re scared of your husband or domestic partner . . . .”

Recently, an Australian man had charges of rape dismissed because of text messages stored on his iPhone. It’s not uncommon for text messages to be used in such cases; what’s interesting is that the man had deleted the text messages several weeks earlier. Fortunately, an it expert was able to access those deleted messages and recover them for use in the rape case.

Text messages from phones are often difficult to access once they’ve been deleted, however; as a Jacksonville Divorce Lawyer I know that retrieval of these messages is possible. Specifically, your cell phone service provider may hold on to the content of text messages for a certain time period, so even if you delete them from your phone, they might be accessible. Often times a subpoena is necessary to retrieve the text message content.

This information has been important in many of my Jacksonville divorce cases because text messages may reveal valuable evidence regarding child custody, adultery, injunctions, etc. Typically, it is not a good idea to use text messages for intimate discussions or other conversations you may wish to keep private. If you don’t want something you say to be used against you, either don’t have the conversation or have it in person so there’s not a history of the conversation stored on your phone or computer. And remember, if you are going through a divorce, contact a Jacksonville Divorce Lawyer to discuss your questions or concerns.

If you are going through a divorce, it is very important that you try not to talk about it to too many people. It’s natural for you to vent your feelings and anger, but keep these conversations limited to close friends and family.

You should never discuss any aspect of your divorce on any social networking site, such as facebook and twitter. Not only can this start needless arguments online, but these arguments are archived essentially in stone. Even if you delete a comment or post, it has been archived on a computer that you likely do not have access to. In certain circumstances, this information can be subpoenaed or obtained through other methods and then used against you.

In fact, the lawyer for the other side may find a way to use social networking information against you, even if you think it’s something innocent. For example, if you have pictures of yourself at a bar, the opposing council could use it in a custody battle. Or, if you tell your former spouse that you don’t have any money, don’t post pictures of your new car on your profile.

As a Jacksonville Divorce Attorney I’ve noticed one of the first questions new clients ask me is, “how long is it going to take for my divorce to become finalized.” Unfortunately, there is no one answer to that question.

A divorce can last as long as the parties want it to last. It truly depends on the issues of the case and how willing the parties are to compromise and communicate openly with their respective attorneys.

As a Jacksonville Divorce Attorney, I have had all of the required paperwork and signatures completed within a week for simple divorces that do not involve children. However, Florida Statute 61.19 requires a period of 20 days to elapse from the time the Petition is filed to the time a Final Judgment can be entered.

An American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) survey conducted just this past year found that four out of five lawyers reported an increasing number of their divorce cases citing evidence derived from social networking sites in the past five years, with Facebook leading the pack.

As a Jacksonville Divorce and Child Custody Attorney I have seen an increase in evidentiary exhibits derived from social networking sites in the past several months. While the legal evidentiary issues surrounding use of information obtained from such sites is somewhat controversial it can be a tool used for both for and against parties in a divorce or child custody case.

Contact a Jacksonville Divorce and Child Custody Attorney today for more information regarding this issue.