ABSTRACT
Contact disputes can arise at any stage after the breakdown of family relationships, whether from separation and divorce or when a child is removed from the family home. Contact between children and the parent who is not their primary carer is desirable in principle but often fraught with complex issues that may have to be addressed before such contact can take place. A parent who is initially intransigent about contact arrangements, particularly soon after a decision affecting their care of their child has been taken, may be full of anger and bitterness about the decision, making it difficult for them to see what is in the child’s best interest rather than their own. The dynamics of contact disputes are usually quite complex, especially when they interact with the dynamics of the court process. There are two particular areas which frequently come before the courts for resolution—contact disputes involving domestic violence, and the intransigent parent.
