Facebook as Evidence in a Divorce

Sometimes it is even heard to believe the headlines these days. Such was the case when I read a ZDNet post titled "Couple ordered to swap Facebook passwords in divorce case". Here are a few clips from it:
New London District Superior Court Judge Kenneth Shluger recently ordered a divorcing couple to hand over their “Facebook and dating website passwords” to each other’s lawyers.
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Interestingly, the ruling forces both parties to violate Facebook’s terms of service.
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The issue was first raised when Stephen found some information on the couple’s computer regarding her feelings toward their children and her ability to take care of them, according to Forbes.
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Courtney initially refused, but on her own lawyer’s advice, she eventually handed over the passwords. She then reportedly texted a friend and asked him or her to change said passwords and delete some of her messages. Since the destruction of evidence is illegal, Traystman went to the judge and asked him to issue an injunction, so that she would not delete be able to delete any further material and so the attorneys could exchange passwords for both spouses.
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As I’ve reported in the past, the evidence from social networking sites is becoming more and more useful in lawsuits and divorces.
You can read more of the story here. Had not really thought of all of the implications that social networking sites like Facebook could present when a marriage goes south. Wonder how much things like this happen?

2 comments:

  1. I wish I would have saved all the emails, IMs, etc. that married men have sent to me over the years so if their wives ever needed proof that they were married to a cheating scumbag, I could have provided some. It really upset me (none of my male close blogging friends EVER crossed that line!). You never thought of the implications because you are the opposite of the type of person that needs to worry about such things.

    Ok, I like this dynamic view thing a bit better now....I didn't know you could customize it (duh). I am going to play around with it)

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  2. I hear that Blogger support for gadgets and other customization is coming soon Barbara. Look forward to seeing what you come up with!

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