How to Get Reimbursed for Half of Medical Bills

[Hayaku]

My question involves child support in the State of: California

I share Joint legal and physical custody with my ex wife. I have my son one week and her the next and rotate every Sunday. Since I make more than her the judge granted child support of $220.00 a month to her. My son is under my insurance for medical and dental. I have been taking him to the dentist for the past five months and was just made aware of an emergency procedure he needs in the next two weeks due to a rare inherited disease. In our divorce decree it states Petitioner(myself) shall pay 50% and respondent shall pay 50% of any reimbursed medical, dental, and orthodontia expense incurred on behalf of the minor child. The co-pays all together including dentist and anesthesiologist fee's come out to $2,852.00. Her response is she doesn't have it, that she has bills and children to support and that i should have notified her sooner of the costs. I will not let my son suffer because she won't pay her share, mind you she didn't try for a loan and refused to make payments to me. I myself am going to cover the co-pays mean while still paying her child support which seems pretty unreasonable. My question is what sort of steps should I begin to take to try and get reimbursed. This is taking away from funds I use to support my son. She is court ordered to pay 50% I pay my child support on time and have never missed a payment I expect the same from her. I just need some advice

[Dogmatique]

Good for you for not letting it prevent your son from getting the help he needs

Once you've paid, you can take her back to court and ask that she is held in contempt for non-payment. What the judge will order is actually up for anyone to guess - Mom might be given the option to pay you over time, you might get a reduction in child support until the amount is paid off, there are quite a few possibilities.

[Mr. Knowitall]

A typical support order requires reimbursement after an expense has been incurred, not before, and it sounds like you're talking about future expenditures. Does the language in your support order in fact allow you to try to claim expenses in advance? If not, once the expenses are incurred you document them to your spouse for her contribution. Prior to the procedure the order may also raise issues about how you come to agree for the need for medical services, choice of doctor, and the like.

If you are talking about expenses you have in fact incurred and your ex- won't reimburse you, you can go to court and ask that the court compel reimbursement.

[distressedmom]

If you don't do this already, make sure any future bills you send to her are sent via certfied mail. You will need to be able to prove in court she received the bills.

In your contempt hearing the court may want to add these bills to arrears. You can ask the court to consider increasing the amount of the arrears to pay these off.

[Hayaku]

We meet to exchange my son every Sunday, any bills I have, estimations, late notices and doctors orders I have, i make a copy for her and she signs the bottom of my originals will that suffice?