Virtual Visitation Becoming More Prevalent In Child Custody Cases
Around the country Family Law Courts are turning to the use of technology to overcome visitation issues when a parent in a divorce case relocates interstate, increasingly the courts are tending to order the use of these high tech solutions.
According to a story on 24-7Press Release a New York judge recently ruled that as a condition of her out-of-state move away to Florida, a Long Island mother should make her two children available to talk to their father through Skype, an online video conferencing service.
This was the foirst case of it's type in New York, "virtual visitation" is being tested by a number of other states around the country. Increasingly judges are taking up the option to have children keep in contact with their non-custodial parent via things such as email, web cameras and instant messaging. It is part of a growing trend of a increasing reliance on technology especially in divorce and famly law.
But there are a number of critics of this trend to increasingly rely on technology pointing out that chatting on a computer can be a poor substitute for real live contact and spending a weekend with a non-custodial parent.
According to the Nielsen Company, a media research firm, more people now use social networks to communicate rather than web-based email. More and more younger people are driven to make human connections via the web, they are flocking in droves to sites like Facebook and Twitter. One of the best ways to overcome the difficulties posed by non-custodial parents who are far-off to stay in touch with their children may well be the emergent cyberspace tools .
Michael Gough, the divorced father of a four-year-old, asked a Utah judge to require his ex-wife to allow him to use Skype to chat with his child (which led Utah to become the first state to adopt virtual visitation laws in 2004). Gough reported that prior to 'virtual visitation' he could only speak with his daughter via the phone the conversations would last for an average of five minutes; Gough said that once 'virtual visitation' via Skype so that he could see his girl, the average conversation was an average of 45 mins and then on on occassion could last as long as forty-five mins.
The computer screen is probably better than the telephone in most cases, but some worry that widely available video conferencing technology will make it more likely that courts will allow custodial parents to move greater distances. Replacing face-to-face interaction with the web is not the same for parent or child; courts should excercise caution not to allow a custodial parent to relocate just because of technology like Skype.
These are just some of the aspects family law can assist you in, if you feel you need some help check with a Family Law Attorney Bakersfield.
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