Trendy prenuptial agreement for social media use

For more and more Americans, Californians included, prenuptial agreements are just part of the process of getting married. This is largely because people are aware that half of all marriages fail and people who did not protect themselves often said they wish they had. The purpose of a prenuptial agreement is to preserve an individual’s wealth, property rights and assets in case marriage does not work out. It is not, as many people believe, a lack of commitment to a marriage, only the sober realization that divorce is always a possibility.

Some prenups are now including social networking clauses or elements that address the common use of such social media sites and applications as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. One recent study found that married couples’ use of social media can cause strains in a relationship that are severe enough to lead to divorce. One problem is that unhappy spouses can more easily reconnect with old flames online now. Rekindled cyber romances can torpedo real ongoing relationships if the former partners reunite in person.

For these reasons, discussing social media use and establishing ground rules before marriage may be appropriate. These rules might include, for example, an agreement about what type of personal information can be shared on social media and an agreement that both spouses refuse friend requests from former romantic partners. An agreement might also stipulate that neither spouse can post photos of the other, especially private images, if the couple divorces. Revenge postings of intimate images has become a real problem for some couples.

Including a social media element in a prenuptial agreement can show that potential spouses are wise to the issues that can create trouble for a marriage and that protecting themselves goes beyond mere preservation of assets from property division.

Source: CBS News, “Divorce, social networks and prenups,” Ray Martin, July 10, 2014