Online dating has fundamentally changed the practice. In some ways the change has been good: you don’t have to spend days, months, or even years trying to find someone you consider worth going on a date with when you can just review profiles and find someone who fits your liking quickly. That being said, it’s also changed things for the worse as well, as there are now an abundance of risks in partaking in this social practice.
People Lie
If there’s one thing pretty much everyone knows about the internet, it’s that people lie. Some people lie a lot. When it comes to online dating, one of the big draws is that you can control what someone’s first impression will be of you down to the very letter. However, this means people will often exaggerate their online profiles. Some exaggerations are slight, while others are outright lies. These lies could get you in a whole heap of trouble later, leading to family law court needing to get involved.
A survey of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML), one of the largest associations for divorce attorneys, said that more than half of all respondents said they had seen an increase in the amount of evidence taken from dating websites and used in divorce cases. You might assume that just because you’re in the middle of your divorce that you’re single again, but you’re actually still technically married until your final agreement has been signed and filed. As such, anything you put on your dating profile could be used to disprove your testimony in matters such as child custody, spousal support, and asset division (listing your salary online is just begging for your spouse to accuse you of hiding assets).
What Can You Do?
Some people think that jumping back into the dating game can be a great way to move on from your marriage that’s in the process of dissolving and focusing on something that can make you feel happy again. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the best idea. Not only will you not be able to give the other person the attention they deserve (which isn’t really fair to them), but you also could be putting information about yourself in a publically visible place right in the middle of what might be the biggest legal matter you’ll ever go through, and that could be used against you.
Always assume the other side is watching you, and as such, do what you can to keep a low profile, even if that means having no profile on a dating site for a little while longer.
Call the Rocklin divorce lawyers at Myers Family Law today at (916) 634-0067 to schedule your initial case evaluation and get the help you need with your divorce case.