Putting my Divorce on a Website?

[yerbudi]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MA

What is the legality of putting the trials and tribulations of my divorce on a website? My STBX had slandered me throughout the proceedings, and throughout the little town that we live in. I would like to put together a website so that I can publically state that "hey, this is the truth..."

What can I put on a website, and what cannot I not put on a website?

Thank you in advance
Michael

 

[penelope10]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MA

What is the legality of putting the trials and tribulations of my divorce on a website? My STBX had slandered me throughout the proceedings, and throughout the little town that we live in. I would like to put together a website so that I can publically state that "hey, this is the truth..."

What can I put on a website, and what cannot I not put on a website?

Thank you in advance
MichaelWhat is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

What I would do is take the high road. Why on earth would you want to put something on a website that could potentially add fuel to gossip? (And may end up biting you in the butt in court). This is really, really not a good idea.

 

[mmmagique]

This would do nothing to make you look better.
It is tacky.
Think Tricia Walsh-Smith

YouTube - Tricia Walsh Smith - The video that started it all!

I advise you to take the high-road or wind up looking like her...

~Christina

 

[Ohiogal]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MA

What is the legality of putting the trials and tribulations of my divorce on a website? My STBX had slandered me throughout the proceedings, and throughout the little town that we live in. I would like to put together a website so that I can publically state that "hey, this is the truth..."

What can I put on a website, and what cannot I not put on a website?

Thank you in advance
MichaelWhat is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

No. It is YOUR truth. Anything you put on the website can be used against you in court. It can definitely hurt your case. It cannot help it.

 

[yerbudi]

Actually it is documented truths from court transcripts where she was lying and got caught in cross examinations and from other's testimonies.

We are in the three months finalization phase now. But the judge already signed off on it.

I have always taken the high road and have never lied in these proceedings. Yet I see former neighbors and they turn their head and walk away. As a real estate agent, my reputation is totally damaged beyond repair in this small town.

I will continue to take the high road...I will not stoop to her level...thanks for your opinions.

 

[Ohiogal]

Actually it is documented truths from court transcripts where she was lying and got caught in cross examinations and from other's testimonies.

We are in the three months finalization phase now. But the judge already signed off on it.

I have always taken the high road and have never lied in these proceedings. Yet I see former neighbors and they turn their head and walk away. As a real estate agent, my reputation is totally damaged beyond repair in this small town.

I will continue to take the high road...I will not stoop to her level...thanks for your opinions.

Really? How did what she say in court damage your reputation? And how do you show that she is lying and not the others? Maybe they just don't like you and like your wife.

 

[quincy]

"Documented truths from court transcripts," when these documented truths are from any matrimonial action (divorce, custody, whatever), are often considered confidential in many states, and to publish them even in their true and accurate form could lead to a libel suit.

New York courts, for instance, keep all divorce proceedings "secret" because of the recognition by the courts that battling spouses lie about each other with some frequency.

To write about other people on a website can be dangerous legally, especially when the writings concern people who can be easily identified through your comments.

 

[MFinancier]

Michael...if you are bitter, bemused, broken, confounded or just flummoxed...and want to move on...try doing something positive with your "trials and tribulations". Study up on your State Laws and help people learn from the mistakes others have made in the past. It takes courage and strength to follow the high road...but it will not go unnoticed by your friends and family...and that is the best reward there is.

 

[yerbudi]

Thanks again

I have always taken the high road. I cannot say that enough. Ohiogal, I will PM you and let you know in private the "proofs" that you do not believe.

As far as being, "bitter, bemused, broken, confounded or just flummoxed". I am not bitter, or broken, and I have moved far beyond her and her cantankerous ways, but her lies are what get to me and the fact that she has lied and spread rumors about me all though out this town.

Although we all know that every coin has two sides, mostly everyone calls "heads" when it is flipped. These people that have heard the lies should be told the truths instead.

I understand what you all are saying...I have not lied on this board at all, nor have I lied in any court preceeding, unlike my STBX. I have moved beyond all of the negativity. I just want to get my reputation back. I guess just taking the high road I will eventually get there because I just keep going up, up, up, where she took the low road and went down, down, down.

I am a better man today than I was 10 months ago.

 

[Farfalla]

Just remember that living well is the best 'revenge'.Anyone who believes untruths about you were not really your friends to begin with, so you have really lost nothing. Time heals these sorts of wounds. As hard as it may seem at this time, just let it go and get on with your life.

If you put it all on the internet, people who never heard the garbage will now know it. You will be the one who is spreading it. People will not take the time to find out the truth.. they will just read it in the way we watch a train wreck. They will remember the negative and always associate it with you. Let it go.

 

[tranquility]

I agree with the hesitations of others. But, aren't court transcripts public and protected? How can anyone be sued for publishing them?

 

[quincy]

Although generally a fair and accurate report of most public proceedings and most public documents are safe to publish, this is not always the case. Information that comes from confidential court documents are not always covered under the fair report privilege.

In New York and some other states, matrimonial actions are sealed and confidential. In these states, even a fair and accurate report of the divorce proceedings can lead, and have led, to libel suits. If during a divorce proceeding one party defames another (and this is common in divorce proceedings), and the proceeding is reported accurately and includes the defamatory comment, the reporter of the proceeding can be sued for libel by the one who was defamed in court, and publically defamed in the paper.

The fair report privilege is limited by law in other areas, as well - for instance, although what a governor says in a public proceeding gives the governor absolute privilege (even when what is said by the governor is false and defamatory), this privilege does not always extend to those reporting on what is said.