Jacksonville Divorce Lawyer Blog
The changing times allow for a change in an approach how parents can engage, interact, and build relationships with their children. It seems as if we live in a world where many children have a cellphone, laptop, and/or tablet device capable of communication in various forms. While these items used to be considered luxury items primarily owed by working adults, these items are now becoming very prevalent in the lives of children. While there are many concerns for these pocket computes being placed in the hands of children, there are many benefits to this oversaturation of technology. The growing prevalence in the use of technology by children has allowed for a window of opportunity for parents to foster and maintain relationships, no matter where they are located.
Decades ago people would think of custody or timesharing with children to only include the moments in which the child was physically with them. But now, parenting plans can include provisions in which telephonic, audio visual, or other forms of electronic communication is ordered to occur between a parent and a child. The court will not order this in all cases. Yet, it remains important for client’s to be aware that this type of order is available to them. The court will consider the child’s best interest, first and foremost, and then go on to consider other factors, such as, the availability of the communication method to the child, previous history of abuse or drug use of a parent, additional costs to the parent’s for the child’s use of a device, and the need for any safeguards for the child related to the use of such a device.
While children are to be protected from being utilized as a messenger between the parents, this order communication allows for a direct fostering of the parent child relationship, typically, without the intervention of the other parent. It is not a necessity for a child to have their own communication device to effectuate this type of order, as they can use one of their parent’s devices. Fostering a relationship with your child is of the utmost importance, if you find yourself limited in communication with your child reach out to a local family law attorney, today.