How Divorce Lawyers Use Facebook to Catch Your Cheating Spouse

Would you be surprised to discover that at least 80 percent of divorce lawyers polled for a recent survey said they used Facebook and other social sites to catch a cheating spouse or discover online activities that could affect a divorce? They have even provided the evidence in court to help win custody battles, obtain more child support, and make sure their clients come out ahead in divorce wars.

The survey was conducted by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and Facebook was used to gain the lion's share of evidence a whopping 66 percent of the time.

To catch a cheating spouse on Facebook, clients and divorce lawyers may work together

Sometimes divorce lawyers even get a client's help to catch a unfaithful spouse on Facebook. You can sometimes use these same tactics before you make that first visit to your lawyer's office. Armed with the information, you'll save some money over paying a lawyer or private investigator to track down your cheating spouse.

Understandably so, you might feel very uncomfortable spying on a spouse. But if you have decided to divorce and strongly suspect or already know your spouse is having an affair, having proof can make a huge difference in court. Photos, online messages, and other evidence gathered from Facebook can be hard to dispute.

Remember, people have won case after case by using this evidence and the majority of divorce lawyers use Facebook more than any other site to catch a spouse who is having an affair or engaging in activities that could affect finances and custody rights during a divorce.

Divorce wars can get very ugly. To protect yourself, you'll want to be vigilant and make sure your Facebook account and other online information is safe from the eyes of your spouse's divorce lawyer. The safest course may be to temporarily delete any accounts, even if you aren't doing anything wrong.

So exactly how do divorce lawyers catch unfaithful spouses on Facebook? Turns out it may not be that hard.

Divorce lawyers catch a cheating spouse by looking at Facebook photos -and you may be able to do the same thing

While it may be hard to believe that anyone about to go through a divorce would be dense enough to leave compromising photos on Facebook, an astounding number of husbands and wives do exactly that. If they haven't accepted a friend invitation from their spouses or they have unfriended their spouses, they may mistakenly believe they are safe.

So a soon to be ex-spouse may go ahead and post photos where he or she is shown drinking, partying, and even kissing a new lover. If the spouse has been lying about this, attorneys can use that evidence. Divorce lawyers can usually find ways to get to those Facebook photos to catch a deceptive spouse - but so can you.

You can enlist the help of a friend, good neighbor, or distant relative to sign onto Facebook and friend your spouse. Obviously, you want to use someone your spouse doesn't know. If that person adds your spouse as a friend, access to photos is available. Bingo!

Just like that, compromising photos can pop up. Photos don't necessarily have to show a new lover. If your spouse has lied about using drugs or engaging in other dangerous behavior, photos that show alcohol being chugged can reveal the truth.

To catch a cheating spouse on Facebook, divorce lawyers look at posted messages and updates

Again, some spouses just don't play it safe on Facebook. They list their status as single and then proceed to brag about going on romantic vacations with new lovers. They tell their spouses that they are going on business trips and then take off for romantic rendezvouses.

They write about how drunk they got every weekend. These kinds of messages don't sit well with some judges. Sometimes a spouse forgets to log out of a Facebook account and gets caught when a soon to be ex-partner sees the compromising messages.

A cheating spouse may be lying about more than fidelity

During a divorce, child support and custody are often at stake. If your spouse pleads a lack of money but shows off expensive items like jewelry, boats and luxury cars on Facebook, it is hard to make a case for having financial difficulties. That can affect how much child support you receive - or have to pay.

These are just a few of the methods divorce lawyers use to catch a cheating spouse. Sometimes you can try the same tactics. Is it fair? It is hard for many spouses who are lying about having lovers or a lack of funds to make a case for fairness when they aren't telling the truth.

Divorce lawyers can and will use Facebook to find damaging information which can help bolster divorce cases - and you'll pay for every cent of that time if you are among the lawyer's clients.. Of course, you may feel more comfortable letting your lawyer do the investigating, especially if these tactics seem unethical or make you feel guilty. That's a judgment call. But at least you'll know some of the techniques that may be used to catch a cheating spouse.

Source:
Big Surge in Social Networking Evidence Says Survey of Nation's Top Divorce Lawyers, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, Feb.10, 2010, here