States Explore Virtual Visitation

 Some states, like Illinois, are discovering that virtual visitation is actually written into law. While phone conversations were the traditional method of communication for the non-custodial parent, video chats are becoming a more popular way to extend visitation rights. For parents who are in the military, live in another state, or financially unable to travel, alternative measures like texting, IMing, and web chats can provide visitation time using the very technologies that children are already very familiar with.

If a judge does order virtual visitation as part of a custody case, then the custodial parent must respect this order; in some cases, they may even be asked to set up the web chat between the child and the ex-partner or spouse.

However, there are two times when virtual visitation can either be abused or shouldn't be used at all. If the non-custodial parent is using these alternative measures of communication in lieu of actual face-to-face time, in particular when that parent is physically and financially capable of visiting their child, this could be seen as a breach of the court order.

Conversely, if a parent was not given custody of the child, for whatever reasons, he or she should probably not be granted virtual custody either to protect the child.

If you would like to get visitation rights, hire a family lawyer who can assist you.