Insurance Premiums being pre-taxed

My ex-wife has custody of our two children and I have visitation rights. Our legal seperation agreement states that I am responsible for their medical and dental insurance premiums. It also states that whichever one of us can carry them on our employer plan at a lower cost will carry them but that I am responsible for the premiums as stated above. She lives in TN now and my employer plan is with Wellpath who does not have doctors in the network there in Knoxville so she carries them on her policy through the school system where she teaches. Using the Rosen calculator and taking out for their premiums I am paying about $40 more per month than is required which is OK and not enough different to fight over. This is just a small history to let you know what we have agreed to and is documented in the court system.

My issue is this. My ex-wife has the premiums deducted from her paycheck each month for the medical and dental insurance. This is done BEFORE taxes meaning she gets the tax advantage percentage of what her tax bracket is (25%). Therefore I am paying her in the form of a check for how much the insurance premium is MINUS the 25%. She is arguing this is not correct and her attorney has stated that your website specifically spells that out. I can’t find anything on your website on this topic and would like to have some legal advice.

I am not sure I understand your questions. However, I can tell you that in NC we use the parties’ gross incomes to determine child support, not net. The amount you are reimbursing your ex for in health insurance premiums will be credited to you in calculating support. Since you have to pay the premium pursuant to your agreement, then you need to reimburse her for the actual amount that is deducted from her pay check.