I have been separated from my wife for four years with a

Hello and thank you for the question. I’ll do my best to assist you and provide an accurate and speedy response. Please bear with me as this is an email service and not live chat. Also note that the discussions here are for general information purposes only and do not constitute a lawyer client relationship.

I’ll review and come back to you as soon as I can.

Essentially the advice is correct, in that if there is a change in living circumstances, even if temporary, you need to make adjustments in terms of child maintenance payments. It's better to arrange between you without doing this through the CMS as once the CMS are involved, convincing them that things have changed again (if they do) is like climbing a very high mountain of treacle.

You are also correct in the process to argue living arrangements starts with mediation and then a court application. At 12, most children would have a clear voice as to where they want to live, but this is not the only factor that the judge will consider. If there are concerns that mother is not putting boundaries in place or preventing truancy, then this is something thew court should take into account too in the balance.

Is there anything further that I can clarify about this for you?

I agree it is not fair, but the only way to challenge a unilateral decision like this is through the court.

You can inform the CMS that you will make a voluntary family based agreement and there is no need for them to get involved at this stage.

As long as you have account details to make a payment in line with the amount set out on the online child maintenance calculator, there would be no role for the CMS in arranging the payments.

I hope that clarifies the points?