Social media and premarital agreements

Just a few decades ago, most people in California may have thought that a premarital agreement was only something that celebrities or other people with extensive wealth needed to have. Today, however, more couples who might consider themselves “everyday” people are finding that these contracts can indeed be useful to them.

One of the more recent trends with premarital agreements is the inclusion of clauses that outline what is and what is not acceptable for a spouse to do on social media during and after a divorce. As explained by CNBC, these clauses are sometimes referred to as social media prenups. These clauses have arisen likely out of the fact that some disgruntled husbands or wives have made negative and even slanderous posts about their former partners on social channels. They may even have posted unflattering pictures.

Premarital agreements with these clauses may link fines to such actions especially if a person can show harm done to them as a result of a post. For example, if a husband makes a post about his former wife’s mismanagement of money and that woman is an accountant, she may allege that his post could damage her business. With a single click, this type of post can be propogated to countless people and is unable to be retracted fully.

If you would like to learn more about the types of things that may be included in a premarital agreement, please feel free to visit the marital contracts page of our California family law and divorce website.