If your job takes you away from home frequently or for long periods, your co-parent likely has primary or perhaps even sole residential custody of your children. That makes your visitation time with them all the more critical to your relationship.
Fortunately, parents and children can stay in touch from thousands of miles away via virtual visitation. Thanks to Zoom, Skype and other applications, parents can see their children whether they’re on a business trip in London, on the road coaching a team or driving a truck across the country.
Virtual visitation can be highly beneficial to both children and their parents. It can help parents stay involved in their kids’ lives and let children know that a parent far away is thinking of them.
Documenting your virtual visitation rights
If virtual visitation is going to be necessary, it’s crucial to have your parenting time and rights codified in your parenting plan. Even if your co-parent is agreeable to letting you video conference, text or talk with your children whenever you want, that may not always be the case. Your parenting time shouldn’t be in jeopardy if your ex becomes angry at you.
It’s also wise to document these visits and any unsuccessful attempts – particularly if due to obstruction by your co-parent. Various co-parenting apps provide a way to keep track of virtual visitations.
If you don’t have a virtual visitation schedule or believe that the one you have needs more detail or modification, it’s wise to do so as soon as possible. This is particularly important if your child is still young and doesn’t have access to a computer or phone of their own or needs some help. However, even if your child is more tech-savvy than you and your co-parent, it’s still crucial to have your rights defined.