A man in Milwaukee is facing felony charges for failure to support his child. While this may be unremarkable, what is remarkable is the way in which the district attorney’s office developed the charge. He failed to make his court ordered child support payments for three years, apparently never once paying the $150 a month he owed.

But he at some point, on his Facebook page, he posted pictures of himself posing with cash and liquor that came to the attention of the district attorney’s office. The office then contacted his family to ascertain if there might be more information available. Information that might relate to his ability to pay his child support obligation.

If the district attorney’s uncovers information showing probable cause, they can request a court order to allow them to view the Facebook profile. And then every post and every picture potentially can provide information regarding many elements of a person’s financial situation that could be helpful to a district attorney’s office looking for payment of child support.

The significant issue for those involved in a divorce, and the aftermath of a divorce, is that Facebook and much of social media is, like diamonds, forever. The information posted on those pages and in tweets may reside for years on servers, only waiting for a request by someone.

Pictures of an expensive vacation on Facebook will eventually be found by someone with adverse interests during a divorce. This can damage your credibility with the court and lead to less than optimal results in your divorce settlement.