An essential book for all professionals acting, advising, and assisting on residence and contact issues, Contact: The New Deal brings together all the UK key recent statutory and non-statutory changes affecting and informing this important area of the law. This new book provides a comprehensive guide to the new contact provisions contained in the forthcoming UK Children and Adoption Act 2006; covers developments in mediation, collaborative law, and information provision, and includes an evaluation of the new parenting plans; analyzes the UK's Private Law Program and in-court conciliation; examines the developments in the court's treatment of contact cases in which domestic violence is alleged; summarizes the main legal principles and relevant case law; provides an overview of the key recent research and sets out the rationale for reform; and addresses the topical issues of family court openness and the voice of the child.