‘People think that slagging off their former partner online is a pretty harmless exercise, it isn’t’

A top divorce lawyer says split-up and warring parents need to be very careful to avoid this dangerous social media sin.

Warring parents are increasingly turning to social fundraising platforms such as GoFundMe to help pay for court costs but a leading family lawyer warns it is fraught with problems.

Michael Tiyce, who has worked in the family law space for three decades including as an independent children’s lawyer, says fractious families need to carefully consider what they post on social media sites.

“In family law proceedings it is absolutely forbidden to publish certain information that can identify parties or children involved in family law proceedings,” the Tiyce and Lawyers principal said.

“As society finds different uses for social media, it has obviously become pretty common to see it crop up in family law … social media platforms are having an increasing impact – both negative and positive – on family law cases.

“People think that slagging off their former partner online is a pretty harmless exercise, it isn’t; it’s my view people seem to have lost their filter … stuff is being said that is there for the world to see.”

Family law specialist Michael Tiyce, Tiyce and Lawyers. Picture: Supplied

The Sydney-based family law specialist made mention of several recent cases in which a person’s use of social media – linked to a fundraising bid – had been counter-productive.

In one, the family of one of the parents had “gone into chapter and verse … including uploading a video of one of the children saying horrible things about her mother and new stepfather”.

“(The aim) was to try and convince people to actually fund proceedings, it was a ‘GoFundMe’-type campaign — there was an end put to that pretty quickly,” he said.

In another, a parent was referred to federal police after sharing social media posts about the case and also published text messages from their child to create “a type of documentary” people could buy tickets to see.

Mr Tiyce said even everyday posts could come under scrutiny or be used as evidence.

“For example, it can be used to show if someone is depleting assets and resources, or living a spendthrift lifestyle but then saying they have no money to pay for their kids,” he said.

“(A judge) seeks all available information to ensure that decisions and arguments are made with children’s best interests at heart.”

Mr Tiyce said was observing “more extreme” issues than previously.

“The families who are doing well are the ones who stay out of court but, in my opinion, the societal problems that we are seeing are worse; a lot of that is, I think, because of technology and social media … identity issues for kids.

“Drugs also seem to be having a bigger impact … potentially because the drugs people are using are getting worse – methamphetamines is an absolute scourge and inconsistent with parenting.”