Electronic Communication With Child By Conservator

Texas Family Code §153.015: Electronic Communication With Child By Conservator

A parent can ask the court to award reasonable periods of electronic communication with their child — by phone, email, video chat, or similar — to supplement their regular visitation time. In deciding whether to grant it, courts consider whether it’s in the child’s best interest and whether both households have reasonably available equipment.

If granted, each parent has to share and keep updated the child’s contact information (like an email address), and accommodate the ordered electronic contact with the same respect given to any other form of access. Courts can’t use the availability of electronic communication to reduce child support, and it’s not meant to replace in-person time where that’s otherwise appropriate.

In cases involving a family-violence finding or supervised visitation, electronic communication can only be ordered if both parties agree to it, and the terms have to be spelled out explicitly in the order, including any family-violence-related restrictions required elsewhere in the order.