When you are in the midst of a divorce, it is understandable that you might want to vent your feelings and frustrations every once in a while. Some people in such a situation may confide in a close, trusted friend, but others turn to the outlets offered by social media—especially if they believe that the posts will be kept out of public view. Unfortunately, it is often possible for your spouse and his or her lawyer to use your social media posts against you. In the most extreme situations, an ill-conceived or poorly-timed post could even cost you money or time with your children.

What Does Social Media Include?

The majority of people are familiar with the most popular social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. There are, of course, many other sites and apps like Reddit, Snapchat, and WhatsApp that allow people to interact over the internet. For the purposes of divorce, the term “social media” can also apply to e-mail, text messages, and other forms of digital communication. Messages and photos sent or posted using a cell phone can be considered during a divorce, just as posts made using a desktop computer can.

Television shows and movies tend to depict divorce as a contentious, messy affair where the spouses can barely stand to be in the same room together. Fortunately, this type of case represents a relatively small number of divorces in real like. For many couples, a divorce may be difficult, but it is not usually a contentious and bitter war of attrition. If you and your spouse agree that a divorce is the best option for you both, you may be able to work together to draft a divorce settlement agreement that largely keeps you out of court and focused on building your new, post-divorce life.

Understand the Context

Illinois law provides that every divorce issued in the state is now granted on the no-fault grounds of irreconcilable differences. This has been the only possible grounds for divorce in Illinois since the beginning of 2016, but it has been the most commonly used grounds for much longer than that. The social acceptance of no-fault divorce has allowed unhappy couples to seek better lives outside of their marriage rather than waiting or looking for a serious issue on which to base their divorce.

Relationship and social science experts have known for generations that children of divorced parents are more likely to get divorced later in life than children whose parents stayed together are. Of course, knowing that something is more likely to happen is not the same as knowing why that thing is more likely to happen, especially when it comes to children and families.

Noted scientists have long gone back and forth on the issue of “nature vs. nurture” in many areas of study. The debate boils down to two simple questions with quite complex answers. How much of a person’s behavior is determined by the environment in which he or she was raised, and how much is determined by his or her genetics and evolutionary instincts? A recent study suggests that divorce, of all things, may be linked to a person’s genetics more than we ever really thought possible.

Putting Ideas to the Test

If you are thinking about ending your marriage through divorce, you probably have many questions and concerns. One of these concerns might be about how your marital property will be divided when you split. While we often only think of a marriage as a romantic partnership, it is also a merging of two people’s finances. When a couple divorces, the courts are tasked with dividing the couple’s jointly-held property, assets, and debts fairly. Read on to learn how property is divided during Illinois divorces.

When Couples Cannot Decide How to Split Their Accumulated Assets

Although the simplest and easiest way to manage property separation during a divorce is for the couple themselves to decide how the property will be split up, this is not always possible. Many divorcing couples are not able to agree on property division issues. Other times, one spouse refuses to sign divorce papers or dodges making any decisions about the split. For couples such as these, the matter often ends up in court.

Since the beginning of 2016, there has been only one grounds for divorce in Illinois: an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage caused by irreconcilable differences. Before that, the law permitted divorces to be granted on a number of other grounds, including adultery, abandonment, and repeated mental or physical cruelty. Many people are aware that a divorce on the basis of irreconcilable differences is considered a “no-fault” divorce, regardless of the circumstances. What some do not realize, however, is that verifying that a marriage is truly beyond repair is the first step in any Illinois divorce proceeding.

A Bifurcated Process

According to the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, a contested divorce is handled on a “bifurcated basis.” This means that there are two stages of proceedings. The first stage is where the court must decide “whether irreconcilable differences have caused the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage.” The second stage involves the particulars of the divorce including property division and child-related matters, but it is only necessary if and when the court determines that the marriage is truly beyond repair.