Can You Legally Record Your Conversation with Your Child

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Florida

Is it illegal to record a phone conversation between you and your four year old?

In person? On the phone? Some other? Are BOTH parties in the same state?

The child is in virginia, the parent is in florida, the other parent is verbally abusing the child while the parent in florida is on the phone. making him cry and say crazy things

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the conversation is supposed to be with the floridan parent and child, the virginia parent is not supposed to be there

What would be the basis for requiring the custodial parent to leave the room when the child is on the telephone with the other parent? If it is ordered by the court, a violation of the court order would have to be addressed in the family law case.

As for the general question of recording a telephone conversation, it is generally held that a conversation cannot be recorded unless both parties are aware that the conversation and there is mutual consent to it being recorded. In some cases, it may be legal to record a conversation as long as one party is aware that the conversation will be recorded and consents. However, the applicable federal law is quite narrow and you would be well advised to seek the legal advice of an attorney to determine what the answer to your question is.

Another key issue is consent. While an adult can consent to a legal agreement, in most situations, a child cannot. It may well be that to record a conversation with a child under the scenario you present, you would have to obtain consent from the custodial parent. While the alleged conduct of the custodial parent may be reprehensible, it may not be illegal.

A final consideration would be what weight (if any) the court would give a recording as evidence, assuming that you are able to legally obtain one. It would be the burden of the complaining party to prove the actions of the other party and demonstrate the need to modify or enforce the existing order, or to have an additional order made.

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Quoting Parenting

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The child is in virginia, the parent is in florida, the other parent is verbally abusing the child while the parent in florida is on the phone. making him cry and say crazy things

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so, what you are saying is what you really want to record in the other parent, right?

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Quoting AZDeputyClerk

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Another key issue is consent.

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I will save them for him when he is older, he can consent to listen or not, thats all that really matters right?

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Quoting AZDeputyClerk

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A final consideration would be what weight (if any) the court would give a recording as evidence, assuming that you are able to legally obtain one. It would be the burden of the complaining party to prove the actions of the other party and demonstrate the need to modify or enforce the existing order, or to have an additional order made.

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It would demostrate the demeanor of the other parent is all, so they cant lie their way out by saying "no i didnt"


Thank you guys, sorry for the delay in response, it took some time to think about it, and I had to track down my passwrod.

Why on EARTH would you subject your child to that? Even as an adult?

That is frankly DESPICABLE!

No, you CANNOT record your child's conversation with the other parent - your child is not old enough to give consent to be recorded, and the courts (should they ever find out) will come down on you hard.

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And tell us, how do YOU know what is being said? Are you eavesdropping?

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Parenting;642901]I will save them for him when he is older, he can consent to listen or not, thats all that really matters right?

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Um, no

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It would demostrate the demeanor of the other parent is all, so they cant lie their way out by saying "no i didnt"

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oh, so you would be recording the parent, who you do not have permission from.



since it appears there are criminal penalties for recording a person in VA without permission, I suggest attempting to use the recording for anything is not a good idea.

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Quoting Dogmatique

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Why on EARTH would you subject your child to that? Even as an adult?

That is frankly DESPICABLE!

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I am sorry, I think you guys may have it confused a little bit, probably my fault for the lack of explanation

I am the parent recording phone calls between my child and myself, the child is being manipulated lied to and punished by the other parent for talking to me while my child and I are conversating. For instance 2 days ago, the child called an hour earlier than ever before, everyone was eating dinner (pizza). And was not only yelled at for asking to eat, but also told the couldn't eat until after the phone call. And this was 2 min 12 secs into the call. After he said everyone was eating, after I told him to go ahead and eat, he could even eat and talk if he wanted to (which he did want to do). So its not like it wasn't planned.

Why was the call made as dinner arrived when it has never been that early before?

Regardless of any thought you may have Dogmatique, in my eyes that is despicable.

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Quoting Dogmatique

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No, you CANNOT record your child's conversation with the other parent - your child is not old enough to give consent to be recorded, and the courts (should they ever find out) will come down on you hard.
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And tell us, how do YOU know what is being said? Are you eavesdropping?

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Again, I am sorry, but did you even read the title of the thread and or any of the thread or are you just having a bad day?

FYI: And yes it has been ordered that the other parent not be there during the phone calls.

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I will save them for him when he is older, he can consent to listen or not, thats all that really matters right?

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Er, no. The "consent" that AZ is talking about is consent to be recorded. Your child cannot legally consent to be recorded. And what you're trying to do is record the other parent, anyway, which can land you in a whole ocean of hot water if the other parent has not consented to be recorded.

Don't do this.

(And for the love of butt, why would you save these recordings and give them to kiddo later? That's not cool at all. It's really mean and manipulative, and I hope you do the right thing and never, ever play them for kiddo. Not ever.)

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FYI: And yes it has been ordered that the other parent not be there during the phone calls.

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Then the way you handle it is to speak with your attorney and drag the other parent to court. If the other parent is in violation of a court order, then the court can find them in contempt.

Do this by the book, and you'll save yourself a lot of potential grief.