Visitation rights online catch on

Among divorce lawyers, they are known as move-away cases: The often bitter disputes that flare when parents with custody of children try to relocate far from ex-spouses with visiting rights. FOR BETTER OR WORSE, the long-distance prowess of Internet technology is expected to play an expanding role as these cases reach America’s courtrooms. The pivotal question: Should the prospect of “virtual visitation” — through e-mail, instant messages and video-conferencing - make it easier for a custodial parent to get permission to move? A New Jersey appeals court broached this new legal frontier earlier this year. It ruled that online visiting — along with face-to-face contact — would be a “creative and innovative” way for a father to stay in touch with his 9-year-old daughter if the man’s ex-wife moved to California over his objections. The woman later decided against moving, but the ruling intrigued family-law specialists and alarmed fathers-rights advocates. Many divorced parents already use virtual visitation - not under court order but because it helps them maintain ties with faraway children.