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Facebook Infidelity Used By Lawyers in Divorce Cases

by Caleb Johnson on February 12, 2010 at 01:40 PM

There's no question that the social networking boom has led to an increase in cheating spouses. But what might be surprising is that social networking is being more commonly used in the courtroom -- as evidence.

According to the New York Post, a recent survey from the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers shows that 81-percent of the lawyers questioned said they've used evidence from social networking sites more and more often over the past five years. Of those surveyed, 66-percent have used incriminating evidence from Facebook, 15-percent from MySpace, and just 5-percent from Twitter. "Every client I've seen in the last six months had a Facebook page," AAML vice-president Ken Altshuler told the New York Post. "The first piece of advice I give them is to terminate their page immediately."

Photos, private messages, or tweets can be particularly important when a couple is battling for custody of children during divorce hearings. Determining if a parent is unfit could be as simple as checking out some tagged photos or looking at an Inbox. Altshuler told the Post that he's had three cases hinge on this type of evidence just over the last six months.

What's the lesson to be learned here? First off, don't cheat. Second, how about: what happens on Facebook definitely doesn't stay on Facebook. [From: New York Post, via: Huffington Post]

Tags: cheating, divorce, facebook, infidelity, law, marriage, myspace, socialnetworking, top, twitter, web

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