The Instagram posts that could come back to haunt divorced women.

The soft-launch of a new partner. The sudden proliferation of cryptic quote tiles referencing an unnamed 'narcissist' in someone's life. The post-divorce glow-up and girls trips. 

In modern love, social media is a battleground that bears the scars — and sometimes the lobbed post-breakup grenades — of what went on between two people no longer together. 

And while the urge to let everyone (not least of all your ex) know just how much you're thriving in the aftermath, experts warn that what you post to the grid could cost you in court, should it come to that.

Watch: The hosts of Mamamia Out Loud discuss women 'quiet quitting' their husbands. Post continues below.

When it comes to financial settlements in particular, social media is the "silent witness" many people fail to consider, explains Breanna Farrell, Family Law Associate at Gold Coast firm Attwood Marshall Lawyers.

"The court takes all evidence quite seriously," she explained, "in circumstances where one party might be posting an exorbitant lifestyle or extensive travel... the court might have some serious questions if, simultaneously, that party is asserting to the court that they have minimal financial means."

In other words, if your online presence makes it appear as though you have more cash to splash than you actually do, a court might want to take a closer look at your financial situation. 

The legal term you need to know.

Picture this: you separate, and before the property settlement is finalised, you decide to blow off steam with a lavish holiday to Bali with the girls. You put it all on the credit card and splash the photos across your socials a la Carrie in the Sex and the City film.

Farrell warns that this spending can be scrutinised.

"The legalese term that we use to describe this is 'add-backs'," she said.

"Historically, the concept of 'add-backs' was in the realm of questioning: was there a premature distribution of a joint asset that one party got the full benefit while the other party missed out?"

In other words, if you waste marital assets recklessly (like blowing the joint savings on a holiday), the court could theoretically count that money as if you still have it.

While courts are becoming more reluctant to do dollar-for-dollar add-backs, Farrell says it's still a risk. If you spent $10,000 on a holiday post-separation, that's $10,000 that isn't in the pot to be divided, and your ex might argue that should come out of your share.

Sh*t-talking is off-limits.

What's potentially even more concerning, however, is something that falls under Section 121 of the Family Law Act — which ranting online about your ex could put you in breach of.

This section states it is illegal to publish any account of proceedings that identifies the parties involved.

"Even if no names are mentioned, certain details within a post can certainly drive an inference," Farrell said. "And that can lead a person to hot water just the same."

The penalty can be up to one year imprisonment — yes, read that again — and while jail time is rare, the court can also issue injunctions to shut down your social media accounts.

"I think, as a matter of practicality, it's important that you refrain from posting anything that could be seen as a dig or denigration of your former spouse," Farrell advised.

"I think we need to remember that our social media is not our diary, and we probably shouldn't be treating it like one, particularly in the context of a separation."

Breanna Farrell. Image: Supplied.

Posting the kids online.

A curlier area of family law getting more of a workout in recent years is the issue surrounding kids and their privacy online. 

"We're finding now more and more that social media is becoming a hot topic in parenting matters," Farrell noted.

Where one parent might be into "sharenting" and the other is a privacy advocate, separations and divorce can make for legal battles around what is and is not allowed to be posted.

"If the matter is quite litigious... it's not unheard of to see parents seeking orders from the court to prevent a parent from posting their children on social media," explained Farrell.

Listen to this episode of The Quicky on letting social media ruin your divorce. Post continues below.

The bottom line, says Farrell, is that "prevention is always better than the cure," when it comes to separation and divorce, so keeping your side of the street clean can save you a world of hurt in front of a judge. 

Divorce is incredibly painful without the added burden of legal battles or your own Instagram account being held against you. 

No one gets married planning for it to end in divorce, but in the age of social media, perhaps we should post like we are.

Feature image: Canva.