We've all heard of legal problems created by Facebook, such as employees who got fired for posting derogatory comments about bosses, customers and co-workers. Facebook could present legal problems in other ways as well.
In Pennsylvania last fall, a court ordered the plaintiff in a personal injury action to allow the defense attorney free access to all his Facebook pages. The purpose was to examine what the plaintiff might have said about his injuries and his life to attack his credibility that his injuries had affected his quality of life. For example, if the plaintiff had posted pictures of himself helping his girlfriend move, his claims that the accident had partially incapacitated him would be somewhat eroded.
It doesn't take a lot of imagination to make the next leap to a bankruptcy trustee wanting to examine a Facebook page. Is that a picture of the debtor on a new motorcycle? Wait, the motorcycle wasn't listed in his schedules and statement of financial affairs. Maybe there's some bankruptcy fraud going on. Or, is the debtor telling friends she's taking a cruise? Where did the money for that come from? Even if your privacy settings only allow Facebook friends to see what you post, if a trustee gets a court order, all bets are off.
The point of this is, be totally honest with your attorney about what you own. Don't try to game the system. It could come back to haunt you. At best your bankruptcy discharge might be denied. At worst, you could be facing prison for bankruptcy fraud.
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