While your children are in your care, you have the right as a parent to set rules as to when, how and for how long your children speak to anyone. Children have the right to talk to the other parent during your parenting time if it is in their best interests to do so. Limits need to be placed on the frequency and length of calls. They should be scheduled at times that are convenient for you and should only be a pre-determined number of times in a week. The courts regularly order that younger children have contact with the other parent two or three times a week for approximately 15 minutes. Older children may not need to speak with their other parent at all in a one-week period. A schedule should be set up to reflect your specific circumstances. Sometimes it requires a legal agreement or court order to set and enforce these boundaries.

Pro tip: set up a space in your home so that video calls are limited to one specific area, a wall-mounted tablet in the children’s bedroom works well. Remember the video connection is a window through which your ex can look around your home, interact with you and other family members and potentially record information.