In the past, we have written about how common it is for Facebook evidence to be used in divorce cases. Statements made on Facebook and other internet sites often count as evidentiary admissions, which can be introduced in court to prove or refute a specific issue. A recent divorce case illustrates this principle in the context of an alimony claim.The ex-wife requested lifetime alimony from her ex-husband. If she had her way, she would receive $850 per month for life. The basis for her claim was that she had been disabled in a car accident in 1997 and was unable to work.
In court, she claimed she could not work and was rarely able to leave home. If true, these facts could give her a plausible claim for alimony. After all, alimony is designed to help support an ex-spouse's standard of living after the marriage. If she could not work, then she would need help from her ex-husband.
However, the ex-wife had a belly-dancing hobby. She spent a few hours each day belly dancing at home and outside of her home. When she was not belly dancing, she spent a large amount of time writing about her belly dancing on the internet.
When a Facebook friend asked her why she wrote about belly dancing without ever posting pictures, she responded, "Gotta be careful what goes online, pookies. The ex would love to fry me with that."
Indeed, you do need to be careful what you post on the internet when you have a divorce case and a claim for alimony. However, her ex-husband did not need pictures of her belly dancing. The ex-wife's words were enough for her ex-husband to "fry" her claim for alimony. Her words alone showed that she was not disabled as she claimed.
The judge refused to give her lifetime alimony. Instead, she will receive alimony for only two years and at the reduced amount of $400 per month. The judge also awarded the husband 60 percent of the proceeds of the sale of their house and ordered her to pay thousands in attorney fees to compensate her ex-husband for the expense of defending against her unreasonable tactics.
Source: New York Post, "'Disabled' woman seeking alimony revealed to be belly dancer," Dareh Gregorian, 4/16/2011