When couples in Washington who share minor children divorce, the state requires that parenting plans be put into place as those once-romantic relationships evolve into co-parenting relationships. Parenting plans are legally binding documents that detail the expectations, rights and responsibilities of each co-parent.
Many co-parents either choose to include virtual visitation provisions in their parenting plans or – if a child custody matter is contentious – ask that the court include these terms in its ruling. Virtual visitation allows whichever parent is not residing with their child at any given time to communicate with their child using resources like texts, calls, video chats, email and social media.
As communicating with a child regularly can help parents to strengthen or maintain bonds with them, virtual visitation is an opportunity that is strongly worth considering.
Get creative when approaching this opportunity
As you contemplate whether adding virtual visitation terms to your parenting plan might be in your child’s interests and whether such an arrangement would be manageable for you and your co-parent, don’t be afraid to get creative. Even if electronic communication is unworkable for some reason, you can write letters, send pictures and record your voice so that your child can hear you telling them stories that can be played later.
The bottom line is that if you’re interested in strengthening your child’s bonds with you and/or your co-parent, there are interesting and innovative ways to tackle this challenge that are available in modern America. If you have questions about how to integrate virtual visitation into your co-parenting reality effectively, don’t forget that you can seek legal guidance at any time.