Why This NY Woman Filed Her Divorce Papers on Facebook

Social media has changed every aspect of our lives. We can connect with old friends and distant relatives.

Thanks to the recent ruling of a Manhattan Supreme Court judge, social media can now be a way to serve legal documents. His ruling may usher in a new era in family law.

The Background 

In 2009, Brooklyn nurse Ellanora Baidoo married Victor Sena Blood-Dzraku. The couple wed in a civil ceremony. Baidoo and Blood-Dzraku are both from Ghana, and she wanted a traditional Ghanaian wedding. Blood-Dzraku did not.

He was so adamant in his refusal that he left his apartment without a forwarding address. Blood-Dzraku has no DMV record, nor does he have a fixed place of employment. However, he does have a Facebook account. And he uses it to keep in touch with his wife (with whom he hasn’t consummated the marriage).

The Ruling

Baidoo no longer wanted to live in limbo. She went so far as to hire a private detective to track down her errant husband. However, the only method of communication open to her was Facebook.

The nurse petitioned the courts to allow her to serve Blood-Dzraku divorce papers on Facebook through a private message. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Matthew Cooper ruled that Baidoo could do so because she had made every effort to locate her husband, to no avail.

The Ruling’s Impact

What does Justice Cooper’s ruling mean for the field of divorce law? It’s an important precedent that lawyers can now cite in the event that one spouse cannot track down another to serve divorce papers.

The landmark ruling raises some issues though. For example, how can the court ascertain the identity of the person receiving the message on Facebook? Just because someone opens a private message does not mean that the person at the keyboard is the intended recipient. Furthermore, the information about each webpage, known as metadata, can be manipulated to show that a social media account is active or inactive.

Because social media represents slippery terrain for legal professionals, it is likely that judges will proceed with caution when it comes to cases similar to Baidoo and Blood-Dzraku’s. Social media sites offer a cheap, efficient and effective way to serve legal documents, but judges must weigh the risks carefully.

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