Ok guys here is my question. My husband has been trying to add his child to his insurance at work. She refuses to let him do that because she gets reimbursed for the medical coverage through child support. She wants to call in a meeting because her medical coverage keeps going up and she wants more money. My husband pays $37.50 a month for a family for medical, dental and vision. She pays $166.00 a month. She refuses to let him put his son on his insurance because she will lose that extra money on the child support. Can a judge change that. And let my husband carry his son on his insurance? Attorney General tells us it's up to the custodial parent to decide that. No attorney can change that. Is this true? Any input is always appreciated...

What does the court order say about this? When my husband got divorced, their agreement stated that either parent was required to include the child on any available insurance plan through their place of employment.

We certainly don't get reimbursed for having his kids on our medical plan - I've never heard of such a thing. All your husband has to do is file to have his child added. If she chooses not to use the insurance, that's her problem.

Something's not adding up here. I don't think you're getting the full story.

Ok here is the story. At the beginning my husbands employer didn't have insurance coverage. He got a new job that offers great benefits and coverage. He is currently reimbursing his ex $166.00 a month because she has his son on her insurance policy. Her insurance keeps going up. My husband asked the Attorney General if he can add his son to his insurance policy and remove him from hers. She refuses to do that. Because she will lose the extra $166.00 a month. From my understanding in TX the non-custodial parent is suppose to provide medical coverage for the child. If the non-custodial cannot, then the custodial parent will provide it and get reimbursed via child support. Is this more clear?

If a situation has changed that materially affects the support order, then, by all means, go back to court and ask for a modification.

Is the mother showing you bills for the medical coverage? If not you should request them. If she is using the money to pay these bills then she is not seeing any money. So the only reason not to allow this is to spite him.

I would go to court and ask the support order be changed to order the NCP to provide medical coverage for the children of HIS OWN CHOOSING, providing a minimum level if coverage is maintained. The order can then spell out this minimum level of coverage, make it comparabe to the current coverage. This means the custodial parent can't block the coverage he provides.

This makes sense. My husband can easily add his son. But she will not allow us and she refuses to drop him from her insurance. Cause that would mean the C/S will be modified and my husband will no longer have to reimburse her for medical coverage. The Attorney General lets her decide what she wants to do. And my husband has no say so.

First, the Attorney General doesn't allow or disallow anything. The AG follows the law. In this case the AG has to follow what's in the Support agreement. If the current support agreement states that the NCP will reimburse the CP for the costs of medical coverage, then that is what he has to do. But it depends on the wording of the support order. You would do well to read it carefully. If the agreement specifies reimbursement, then you have to change the agreement. If the agreement just says that the NCP has to provide medical insurance coverage, then your husband simply says to the mother that he is adding the child to his insurance effective x date. And here is the cost of insurance to cover him up to that date.

She will then have to go to court to enforce the order and it will be thrown out. Because the order doesn't specify. So you need to know exactly what the order says.

Thanks Scott I will review the order.

Again should I review the first order, or the last one that has just been modified. The first order was initiated in 1998 and she requested the last modification in 07/2008

Again should I review the first order, or the last one that has just been modified. The first order was initiated in 1998 and she requested the last modification in 07/2008

I'd review all of them, just to be safe. You don't know what your husband may have agreed to do or not do along the way. You could very well find something else that needs to be addressed.

I agree I will review all of them before making any other move. Thanks for your expertise.

I still can't get over it costing $166 a month for one child. Like Scott pointed out, I'd ask her for copies of these bills. I'd be surprised if the court order doesn't state that she's supposed to provide him a copy of the bill - that's the way my husband's order reads. His ex-wife is supposed to get him a copy of the bill no less than 30 days after she incurs the debt. IF she paid it in full, then he is to reimburse her; otherwise, 50% of the bill is his responsibility... and that's after he pays for the insurance to begin with.

We can't believe it either. I just don't see it costing that much. But my husband has requested that she provide proof of the cost for his sons medical coverage. We have a hard time getting information from her. I think we might have to hire an attorney if she doesn't comply. Good thing is we only have 3 years left, we won't have to deal with her anymore. He can communicate with his son alone.

We can't believe it either. I just don't see it costing that much. But my husband has requested that she provide proof of the cost for his sons medical coverage. We have a hard time getting information from her. I think we might have to hire an attorney if she doesn't comply. Good thing is we only have 3 years left, we won't have to deal with her anymore. He can communicate with his son alone.

If the court order states that she is to provide documentation and she's not, I wouldn't give her a dime aside from the child support. Let her take you back to court for it.

My husband's ex did that once last summer - "I have a medical bill here from the kids; you owe me $56." He said, "Give me a copy of it." She went off on a tangent about how she's "paying for everything"(even though he's current on his support and always has been). He told her again, "Give me a copy of the bill." She hung up on him and we never again heard about a medical bill.

Wow sounds very similar to our situation. Her thing is she just never gets enough from us. She gets what the court appoints her to get. But I make sure I get a receipt or a statement before we reimburse her for anything.

Plus I called the AG to notify them that my husband's hour have been cut and he for a 5% paycut. The AG told me that it looked like my husbands child support was going to go up because of her insurance sky rocketing. And that my husband had to wait 6 months in order to get another modification for his paycut... I think that is a bunch of B/S. 6 months to get modified. But as soon as the CP calls oh yea we will set up a meeting immediately. I don't get it.

Wow sounds very similiar to our situation. Her thing is she just never gets enough from us. She gets what the court appoints her to get. But I make sure I get a receipt or a statement before we reimburse her for anything.

Plus I called the AG to notify them that my husband's hour have been cut and he for a 5% paycut. The AG told me that it looked like my husbands child support was going to go up because of her insurance sky rocketing. And that my husband had to wait 6 months in order to get another modification for his paycut...I think that is a bunch of B/S. 6 months to get modified. But as soon as the CP calls oh yea we will set up a meeting immediatly. I don't get it.

The attorney general shouldn't be involved in this - this is a family court matter.

If you can prove that your husband's income has been substantially reduced, that's grounds to file for a reduction in support. You can also file a motion that will allow your husband to insure his child.

I feel your pain about the slow court process. We're in the process of going through mediation; his ex-wife's boyfriend has become physically abusive and has a drinking problem. Mediation is required before any motions can be filed. Do you think that with their situation being what it is, it takes precedence? Nope. Just moves along with everything else, like it's totally normal for the kids to watch their mother get screamed at and shoved around by her boyfriend.

Typically a lawyer is needed for this right? If that's what it takes, I'm going to do it. Enough is enough. Wow that is interesting. That takes place in family court. I think I remember this. If you feel his children are in danger they will investigate. We found out my husbands ex was smoking pot in the home with her new husband. She got scared when I confronted her about it. But obviously doesn't care, I'm guessing to her it's normal.

You don't always need an attorney but it's recommended. We looked and looked and could never afford one. One day I came across a great website called http://www.legalfish.com (I hope it's okay I'm posting that, they don't like advertising on this site) but we found a great attorney and her retainer is $1000 less than most of the attorneys around us want.

I will check out the website. Thanks for your input. It's always great to find someone who understands and can relate.

Unless there is something really odd when the custody / support was written. So long as he has legal custody of the child or children there is nothing to stop him from obtaining medical ins on the kids. Its not against the law to have 2 policies one a person or child. The AG was either misinformed or just blowing you off. He can obtian life insurance and whatever insurance he wants for the child / children.

First as a insurance agent, a policy on a child, ( unless the child has health problems() is no where near that much.

Next the father can ask for the custody or parenting order to be modified to allow him to furnish the insurance

Basically this case would have to go in front of a judge, am I right?

First, in some states, the AG's office does deal with Familiy Court matters. That's probably why the AG is involved here.

Second, Many states have rules on the frequency that modifications can be applied for. Most often the waiting period is a year so the AG's office may be right that you have to wait another 6 months to apply for another modification.

I agree with the others that $166 is very high for just a child. So demand to see a bill and refuse to pay if she doesn't produce one. If you do that her choices are to produce the bill or take him to court. If she does take him to court, she will still have to produce a bill. If she has been falsifying the amount she will be in big trouble. And he can then sue her for what he has overpaid.

I don’t think I read where the OP was from but I pay about that much for one child here; I think it depends on the policy. HMO, PPO, co-pays, hospitalization, prescriptions, therapy, etc. As long as the policies are the same or just about the same a Judge would have no reason not to change the order and allow the NCP to carry the child on their policy. However, I could see the judge keeping it the same if the policies are very different. Such as the NCP has $25 co-pays per visit and the child can't continue to go to the same doctor but would have to pick one from a list or the visit cost and co-pays are higher like they only cover half the visit or something crazy like that. While the CP has a $10 co-pay and can go to any doctor anytime without costing more. The CP usually pays all the co-pays and prescription costs. – OP does she get reimbursed for those too?

Here, in Virginia, they build the cost of the premiums and any long term medical care, such as therapy, braces etc, into the child support and then the CP is responsible to pay it all. In addition the CP has to pay $250 per child per year of the uncovered medical costs before the NCP has to pay their percent. If something changes the entire support gets recalculated and a new order is written and that can only be done once a year with a twenty-five percent change in circumstance or every three years otherwise.

Again, I don’t know where you are at but most places have the guidelines and what to expect if you go to court on an official website. You might try going to your local courts website they might have it there. That way at least you have any idea what to expect and you would know if any of the laws changed. Also the newest order is what the judge will go by, unless it states to look at a past order. (The wording might read – support amount is changed to $XXX.XX with all other points remaining the same in the order dated XX/XX/XXXX. – in the orders here there is a box that is checked that states that this is the only order in effect or one that states another order dated such and such still remains in effect for such and such.) I think every place if different so its important to look at everything as gather all the facts before filing.

It’s my understanding that the order states that it’s not build in the support but is in fact a reimbursement of costs paid. If that is the case she should be giving you the receipts at least once a year to show the increase for the monthly cost, however that most likely means you seeing a pay stub to show the deduction amount and most people don’t give those to the other parent without a fight. Also maybe she is fighting it because it is the cost for medical she pays not just the portion for the child and she doesn’t want to loose the money for her health care too. If its reimbursement then you should be able to see something from the insurance company stating the amount for her and the child broken down. She should be able to get that with a phone call and would have to have it for court. The pay stub would only show what she is paying for the medical. If you have been paying for her medical and the child’s you could have a case to go to court and ask for her portion back.

Thanks CJ.

I am in TX. I have a benefits books and it shows what all is covered under her insurance. And my husbands and her insurance are very similar. Except my husbands insurance pays a little bit more than hers and the copays/deductables aren't as high as hers. Right now we are paying 50% of any copays, ded, braces or test that have to be done. And we have copies of all that information. The problem is he has 2 children with her. He is done paying child support to one of them. But whether she removes his son off there she will still be paying the same amount because of there other child. In which he is not required to pay. So she doesn't want to lose that money.

Then she questioned him, why wouldn't he want to put both children on his policy. Because they are both his. No fair... policies are policies. He will only carry his 19 year old daughter if she loses her job. That's the only way we will do this.