Bellevue Legal News: Seattle Divorce & Domestic Violence Lawyer

When A Parent Moves, Virtual Visitation Could Be A New Option

Child custody cases can be difficult for both parents and children – and they only get more complicated when one parent needs to move hundreds or even thousands of miles away. However, new technology, such as video conferencing, video chatting, and Skype, is giving parents and judges more options when it comes to making fair child custody decisions that keep the best interests of the children in mind.

Recently, one judge heard the child custody case Baker vs. Baker, in which the mother and two children in questions were moving over 1,000 miles after a house went into foreclosure. After hearing the case, the father was given three visits with his two children each week – using video chat.

The judge said that Skype video conferencing was not necessarily the right decision for all child custody situations, but that it can help make decisions more fair, especially in situations were a parent is moving more than 100 miles away from their ex-spouse. There are a number of reasons that a parent is permitted to move away or out of state, but not many tools judges have to make these moves fairer for the other spouse. New technology, including video chatting, can help keep families together even after big moves.

The judge also said that virtual visitation was in no way a substitute for actual visitations or for real parenting time – but only that it could help supplement other visitations, especially in cases where one parent moving away from the other is justified and beneficial to the children.

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