The New Trend of Social Media Clauses in Prenups

 Posted on July 18, 2014 in Divorce

When people think of prenuptial agreement clauses, what typically comes to mind are items such as property, financial assets and spousal support. However, due to how integral social media has become to our day to day lives, it is becoming more commonplace for couples to add clauses in their prenups regarding social media behavior.

These types of clauses are not just for celebrities or other people in the public spotlight. These types of provisions are for anyone who works in a business where their reputation is critical to success and could lose their job at even a hint of scandal.

Popular social media clauses include not posing any embarrassing or inappropriate photos or videos that could harm the other spouse’s reputation. This could also include what type of comments that a person makes.

The penalty for making an embarrassing or inappropriate Facebook posting or tweet is usually monetary. For example, one attorney uses a standard penalty for anyone who earns under $5 million – any inappropriate postings will cost the offending spouse $50,000 per incident.

According to statistics from the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML), more than 80 percent of family law attorneys have seen marked increase in the role social media has taken in divorce cases.

Judges have had to decide issues such as whether or not a spouse should be penalized for negative social media comments, or whether or not a spouse was really cheating because their social media comment showed them at one location when they said they were going to be somewhere else.

Soon-to-be ex-spouses also use the internet for revenge postings on dozens of social media porn sites that are on the Internet. Having a prenup in place with a social media clause could make a spouse think twice on this kind behavior because of the hit their wallet may take.