Uninsured Medical Expenses
Uninsured medical bills are a matter of discretion with the judge in terms of the allocation of the payment, although in the vast majority of cases, it’s split 50-50. If one parent is paying full child support according to the child support guidelines, then that was taken into consideration when the child support guidelines were written. However, if there were uninsured medicals bills, they are split between either parent.
One of the biggest problems though with uninsured medical bills is how one party informs the other party of the medical bill. Frequently, people do not want to have monthly contact with their former spouse over bills and asking for money. However, on the flip side, it really is not fair to present to one spouse a whole year’s worth of bills even if the agreement says 50-50. Ideally, whoever incurred the bill on behalf of the child must present said bill to the other spouse within 30 days of receipt of the bill or payment of the bill. The spouse who is paying the other half of the bill has to give the other party the funds within 30 days. What that does is prevent a build-up of bills that someone can use to ambush the other party. Also, it is a method for both parents to stay informed of what the child is undergoing medically, what appointments they are having and what the child’s medical needs are.
