The Impact of Social Networking on Texas Family Law

by Koons, Fuller

1. Be aware that anything you do online - e-mail, text, Facebook, Myspace, YouTube or LinkedIn can come back to haunt you. Even if you delete an e-mail, it may still reside on your hard drive and may be discoverable by an expert. Any text messages, e-mails or information on your cell phone can be retrieved electronically and used in court.
2. Avoid online references to money or spending. That innocent mention of your upcoming vacation to Europe may belie your claims that you don't have enough money to pay alimony or child support.
3. Supervise your children's use of cell phones, e-mail and the like. Anything children do can reflect on you as the parent in a divorce proceeding.
4. Create a new, web-based e-mail address to ensure that no one but you has access. Stop using your current e-mail address, if possible.
5. Password-protect your files, but realize that an expert may be able to get around those passwords anyway,
6. If you share a computer with your spouse, and you believe that the hard drive may contain information that would be relevant to your divorce case, let your attorney know. He or she can have the hard drive imaged to preserve the evidence.
7. If you share a computer with your spouse, and you believe that the hard drive may contain information that would be relevant to your divorce case, let your attorney know. He or she can have the hard drive imaged to preserve the evidence.
8. Consider that your spouse may have installed spyware on your computer to keep track of what you're doing online. Do not, however, install spyware on yor spouse's computer-that may run afoul of the law.
9. stop posting to your Myspace or Facebook accounts. If you maintain a blog, avoid posting anything personal or about your divorce. Anything you post may become evidence in your case.