The standard prenuptial agreement which has been utilized by lawyers in New York for more than a hundred years usually deals with financial issues. The issues involve how much, if any, spousal maintenance there will be in the event of a divorce. How property will be equitably distributed in divorce situations? What is separate property and what is marital property and a variety of other issues. However, there is a new issue being dealt with in prenuptial agreements. The issue involves publications on social media sites.
The Social Media Clause in a Prenuptial Agreement
The social media clause in prenuptial agreements is designed to prevent one of the parties to the marriage from publishing their dirty laundry all over the internet. An example of the type of restrictions contained in social media clauses involves forbidding each party to the agreement from publishing on any social media site, or tweeting any information, whether it be positive or negative, derogatory, embarrassing, including but not limited to, written material, photographs, documents and images of the parties on any social media site.
It should be noted even affirmative statements about the other party can be restricted with regard to a properly drafted, restrictive clause concerning publications on social media.
Social Media Issues
The purpose of the social media clause in prenuptial agreements deals with preventing people from exposing their divorce problems on the internet. There is a proliferation today of embarrassing photographs spouses have been publishing on the internet about each other. Inappropriate postings on websites can have a negative effect on a spouse’s profession, business situation, and employment. Unhappily married individuals have been taking to the internet to disparage their spouses. The purpose of these clauses is to prevent this type of negative behavior.
Enforcing Social Media Restrictions in Prenuptial Agreements
So now that we have explored the topic of putting a social media restriction clause in your prenuptial agreement, how do we enforce it? The only means of enforcing these types of clauses is putting in a monetary penalty in the agreement for violation of the terms of the agreement. The penalty can be of such an onerous nature that it will deter a spouse from publishing nude pictures of you, embarrassing you, or writing things on the internet on social media sites which may destroy your reputation or ability to earn a living. However, be advised if your spouse has no assets, the penalty clause may not work and without a penalty clause the social media restrictions are hard to enforce.
Conclusion
The divorce rate in New York is almost 50%. With divorce rates this high, prenuptial agreements have become more popular. The numerous social media websites which exist on the internet can be inappropriately utilized in a divorce situation to embarrass a spouse. The purpose of the social media clause is to try to stop this from happening.