Whatever you put on social media, or that others post about you, may arise as evidence in a case against you. If you post a picture of yourself with your new lover, or of yourself inebriated, or smoking marijuana, you should anticipate it surfacing in your case. If you text your lover with naked pictures, they can be incriminating exhibits; likewise if your lover posts incriminating data or pictures, and your spouse has access to them directly or through a friend of your lover, and if they can be authenticated (and are relevant), they can be used as evidence against you.
Similarly, if you grouse about your marriage, your children, your spouse or are engaged in any illicit or other behavior adverse to the family’s well-being, that may appear as evidence in your case indicating the marriage breakdown or as impeachment if you testify otherwise in court.
Once the case is filed, you should not simply delete the electronic data, whether social media posts, texts, emails, or other forms of communication. If discovery has issued, and perhaps even beforehand, that may be considered spoliation of evidence and cause you (and your lawyer if he or she directed its destruction) significant trouble. Besides which, much can be recovered through forensic experts such as those used in many divorce cases. Many of my clients have brought the family or the spouse’s hard drive to a forensics company to have the hard drive imaged and held for use at trial. Password protection may be an initial obstacle, but it can be overcome by obtaining a court order permitting access to protected files.
The obvious solution to avoid future problems is to cease using social media for anything related to your family or marriage before getting embroiled in the family break-up. The older the adverse material you posted, the less impact it may have in court (unless you lie about it, in which case you face a credibility problem). Speak to your counsel about these issues as he or she may have some solutions that do not amount to spoliation of evidence.
Last, be very careful not to run afoul of the laws on electronic interception and evidence. There are many such laws, both state and federal; they are complex and the violation can lead to serious consequences. Be sure to address the laws with your counsel before you engage in any surreptitious interception (for example, audio or video recordings) of your spouse or others in the hope of using it as evidence at trial.