A child who has parents who don’t live close to each other might end up not being able to spend much time with one of his or her parents. This is a difficult situation for the child. The good news is that the improvements in technology can help the child have a more meaningful relationship with both parents.
Virtual visitation is a form of visitation that enables a parent and a child to communicate using email, video chats and other virtual methods. This isn’t meant to be a substitute for regular visitation, but it is a good option for parents who simply live too far to get the child often.
When you are using virtual visitation, you need to think about the child’s schedule. If you live in a different time zone, such as a military parent halfway across the world, this might mean that you have to lose sleep to make your visits. It is important that you put the child’s schedule first since you don’t want your child to suffer.
During the virtual visit, you must have unrestricted access to your child. This means that the other parent can’t stand over the child and instruct the child about what to say.
There is a seemingly endless list of ways that you can interact with your child when you have virtual visitation. You could go over nursery rhymes with a young child or help a teen with homework. You have to find out what works for your child.
As you think about your child custody agreement, decide if virtual visitation is something that you need to include. If it is, make sure that you include all vital points that will be necessary to make the virtual visits work as they should.
Source: FindLaw, “Virtual Visitation,” accessed May 12, 2017