Illinois Now Allows ‘Virtual Visitation’ for Divorced Parents

While browsing for news, I ran into an article about Illinois recently passing a law that allows virtual visitation for divorced parents, joining six other states that already have a similar law. What this means is that a noncustodial parent can satisfy their court-mandated visitation requirement by using an "electronic visit" via telephone, e-mail, instant messaging, or video conferencing. What are your thoughts on this?

Bruce Boyer, director of the Loyola Civitas ChildLaw Clinic, said virtual visitation has been helpful in custody cases involving parents who are great distances from each other or in cases where a parent should not have physical proximity to his or her children but would still like to visit and have a relationship. But, he cautioned, virtual visits should not take the place of in-person interaction whenever safe and possible. "It's a lesser alternative to face-to-face contact," Boyer said. "If you don't have a better alternative, it can be a very good way of maintaining contact."

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