Many parents worry about paying for the children’s medical expenses after divorce. If you have a final decree or custody order there should be provisions that detail how the children’s medical expenses will be split among the parents. Typically, one parent is ordered to maintain or obtain health insurance coverage for the children, the other parent might be ordered to pay all or half of the premium (depending upon the custody and visitation arrangement) and then the parties are ordered to pay 50/50 of the unreimbursed or uninsured medical expenses. Most likely, the parent who receives the bill of the medical expenses is ordered to send the actual bill to the other parent within 30 days of receiving the bill. Then, that parent has 30 days from receipt to reimburse the paying parent for their 50% of the expense. The problem arises in that most parties either do not realize or do not comply with the time limitations in the orders. So, what does that mean? If you have received a medical bill and failed to send it to the other parent within 30 days, does that mean that you have to count your losses on the medical expenses?
The Dallas Fifth District Court of Appeals answered this issue recently on an appeal from a Collin County case in In the Interest of I.O.K., J.C.K., and M.O.K., Children. In that case, the parties were divorced and subsequent to that, the mother filed an enforcement seeking reimbursement of medical expenses on the children’s psychology bills. The father failed to pay. The parties’ agreed decree stated, in part, that the party receiving the medical bill must send “all forms, including explanation of benefits (EOB), receipts, bills, and statements reflecting the uninsured portion of the health-care expenses within 30 days after” the party receives them. The father argued that mother never did this and so he should not have to pay. This is despite the fact that he knew the children were attending sessions with the psychologist and had received the bills in the discovery that the parties completed. The father was even receiving the bills from the insurance company with the EOBs. However, at the final hearing the mother admitted that she never sent the bills directly to father within 30 days of receiving them.
Based upon these facts and the reviewed testimony, the Court of Appeals agreed with father that his obligation to reimburse mother his portion of the unreimbursed medical expenses does not arise until mother complies with the terms of the decree and sends the bills to father within 30 days of receiving them. Mother even admitted this in her testimony. Therefore, the Court of Appeals held that you cannot hold the father responsible for the unreimbursed medical expenses when mother did not comply with her obligation under the decree. Therefore, they reversed the trial court’s ruling and ordered that mother take nothing.
The moral of the story? Always, always read your orders and ensure that you know exactly what is expected of you. You cannot point the finger at the other party for violating the orders if you yourself have not complied. You must send the medical bills in compliance with your orders and only then, if the party fails to do their part, can you proceed forward in an enforcement suit for those unreimbursed medical expenses. If you feel as if you are owed medical expenses and you have complied with the orders, then you need to meet with an attorney regarding filing an enforcement action. Schedule a consult with Guest & Gray today.