Facebook, World of Warcraft often used as evidence in divorce
With the networking options available in a vast amount of media, games included, it’s getting easier and easier to retrieve documented traces of what you do in them. That applies particularly well in divorce, where the aforementioned forms of media come in handy to prove cheating. Not like gaming cheats, I mean affairs and mistresses cheating. According to an article on USA Today, World of Warcraft and Facebook are often used as evidence in court.
With the networking options available in a vast amount of media, games included, it’s getting easier and easier to retrieve documented traces of what you do in them. That applies particularly well in divorce, where the aforementioned forms of media come in handy to prove cheating. Not like gaming cheats, I mean affairs and mistresses cheating. According to an article on USA Today, World of Warcraft and Facebook are often used as evidence in court.
The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers reveals that 81% of its members have used or faced evidence from social networking sites and games like World of Warcraft over the last five years. “Oh, I’ve had some fun ones,” said the group’s president-elect, Linda Lea Viken. “It’s very, very common in my new cases.”
There are cases such as “Husband goes on Match.com and declares his single, childless status while seeking primary custody of said nonexistent children,” and “Mom denies in court that she smokes marijuana but posts partying, pot-smoking photos of herself on Facebook.”
World of Warcraft, too, has its share of cases. One reads, “Father seeks custody of the kids, claiming (among other things) that his ex-wife never attends the events of their young ones. Subpoenaed evidence from the gaming site World of Warcraft tracks her there with her boyfriend at the precise time she was supposed to be out with the children. Mom loves Facebook’s Farmville, too, at all the wrong times.”
“It’s all pretty good evidence,” Viken pointed out. “You can’t really fake a page off of Facebook. The judges don’t really have any problems letting it in.”
So there you have it – so the next time you’re flirting with the Night Elves, better be sure you cover your tracks. Or better yet, stay clean.
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