Divorce and the Dangers of Electronic Data

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Divorce Do's and Dont's

Find out what you should and shouldn't do during the divorce process.

In today’s society, everything is accessible at the touch of our fingertips, our emails, texts, social medial accounts, etc.  It has become the new normal to connect our emails and text messages through multiple devices, like our cell phones and iPads.   So how can this effect those individuals going through a divorce? Well, the article In a Divorce, Who Gets Custody of Electronic Data? The Lawyers by Jonah Engel Bromwich and Daniel Victor, ties in the most recent scandal involving Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin.  The federal investigation of Mr. Weiner’s revealed messages belonging to his spouse Ms. Abedin, who is Democratic candidate, Hilary Clinton’s closest aide.  

For those individuals who aren’t under scrutiny of a federal investigation, divorce attorneys may use social media and text messages to reveal information about spouses to use in court to prove financial background or to prove the type of parents or people they are.  An example that is given in the article, is a father who has been unemployed for several years because he claimed to be a stay at home dad whose main role was caring for the children, but social media and email proved otherwise, during the day the times he is supposed to be caring for the children he would be playing online poker or sitting on the computer engaging in other activities.   It is not unusual for lawyers to dig up information just through the computer.

Even spouses can use technology to gain an advantage in a divorce proceeding; it has become the new norm to connect our emails and text messages to multiple devices like our cell phones, iPads and computers,  a spouse may access confidential emails or text messages just by turning on their spouses , or family shared iPads or computers.  

The best thing to do to prevent your spouse from gaining access to you electronic data is to create a new email, change passwords or security questions, disable access of emails, texts or social media accounts from iPads or computers and watch what you post on social media, because no matter how many times you delete something, it can always be retrieved.

Are you thinking about entering into a Prenuptial Agreement? Are you considering filing for divorce or separation?  When a couple decides to dissolve their marriage, there are many aspects that need to be addressed including child custody and financial support, parenting time/visitation, spousal support and equitable distribution, to name a few.  These are subjects that Jay D. Raxenberg, P.C. has gained a great deal of experience in over the last two decades in Supreme and Family Court in the tri-state area.  Mr. Raxenberg has extensive training, knowledge and experience in this area of the law and is dedicated to providing exceptional compassionate legal representation to all of his clients.  Please call (516) 491-0565 or toll free at (888) 543-4867 to arrange your initial complimentary consultation.

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