If you have a pending child custody case, many Columbus family law attorneys would likely give you the same piece of advice: get off of Facebook. According to family law practitioners from around the country, the social networking website has become a major tool for discovery in child custody and other family law cases, often with highly negative consequences for parents.

While judges have largely denied requests for access to and use of Facebook and other social networking sites in criminal and other cases, parents embroiled in family law cases usually have free reign. As such, your photos, status updates and other information posted on Facebook can easily become evidence against you in your custody, child support, alimony or other family law case.

In general, Facebook isn't used as often in divorce cases. It may be the grounds of a divorce, proving, for example, that one of the spouses has been unfaithful to the other. But because Ohio and most other states allow no-fault divorce in some form, there is no benefit to proving that your spouse was responsible for the split.

But in child custody cases, Facebook posts can be a very easy way to prove that the other parent is less than equipped to have full physical custody of a child. For example, if your Facebook is full of photos of you drinking and partying, that may signal to a judge that you are unable to handle a child on your own.

There are many other situations that could lead to a loss of child custody, so while your case is pending, it is best to just remove your online identity for the duration of the court proceedings.

Source: The Legal Intelligencer, "Facebook has Become a Factor for Pa. Family Law Cases," Ben Present, Jan. 31, 2012