Hi Crystal,
The Legalese:
The court order that X and I have in place indicates that uncovered medical expenses will be shared equally and that once they have been presented to the party who should reimburse that they have 30 days to pay.
The Situation:
X owes me money. (shocker, right?) As the kids are covered by X’s health insurance. X receives a mailed statement from the insurance company each and every time a medical billing event takes place, e.g. doctor visit, prescription, etc. Should not X be reimbursing me within 30 days of being presented with those statements? They are systematically mailed to X’s address and indicate the monies paid, the child, the provider, and what the insurance paid etc. X has been in receipt of many of these statements and has yet to pay, but seems to rather want to rely on me to specifically ask for the reimbursement which IMHO is just extra hoops to jump through and changes nothing. In some cases I don’t have the actual receipts available but that does not mean she has not been presented with a statement showing all the details laid out above each and every time. Clearly, X does not want to pay the half owed to me and is looking for a way to either stall or not pay at all on a technicality. I suppose it would be a flimsy argument to make that X didn’t know that the pharmacy statements and dr visit statements that X was getting were not for services/expenses that X had not participated in or scheduled etc. Its mostly prescriptions.
What to do?
Do I go to go to CSE or because this is medical bills and a court order is in place do I have to file a Contempt of Court. If I file a CoC about this where do I get the form(s)?
As always, Thanks and Thank you
Sidetracked
Yes, your remedy is Contempt of Court. There is no form for a Motion for Contempt. The motion consists of your allegations regarding the other party’s violation of the order. We do have examples of such documents in our DIY library; however each motion is unique depending on the facts of the particular case. We have a library of forms which you can use at Rosen Online. Rosen Divorce Online is a service that provides you with unlimited access to an attorney along with all of the forms you’ll need to get your problem solved. There is a fee for the program, but you’ll get the specific answers you need to move forward and get your legal issues resolved.
Information about Online service is available at Do It Yourself North Carolina Divorce.
Good luck.
Got it. CoC is the way to litigate the lack of payment, understood. What do you think about the method in which the medical bills are being presented? In other words, should it suffice that X receives a billing statement for each dr visit and prescription? My position here is that I think it should suffice that X receives ample and timely information that their is a medical bill that has been paid and processed. Do I additionally have to call X and say “I took the kid to the doctor” when I know she is receiving the statements from the Ins company which are telling X the same thing? The wording is fairly vague in the court order. It just states that the bills need to be presented.
Thanks as always,
Sidetracked
Though the Order may be vague on the issue of medical reimbursements, the standard practice is to send copies of the bill to your ex, and ask for payment directly. I also find this to be a bit faster way to get your money- if they pay.
Interestingly enough I did go to the court and went to CSE. CSE said that it would be a family court matter and handled by them and that I should process through them. Family court gave me a packet of papers to fill out to get a Motion for Cause started. Is this correct? I thought that CSE would take more of a hands on role in this matter. Is CSE shrugging here?
ST
If I understand you correctly, the issue isn’t that X doesn’t pay, rather, you have to ask X to pay? If that is the case you should be happy you have someone who helps you even if you have to ask. If X doesn’t pay even after you ask then you have a contempt issue, assuming you have a court order.
Ryan,
Thank you for your input. Yes, there is a court order. It indicates that X is to pay 1/2 the medical bills withing 30 days of being presented. In most of the bills, X has not done so in over 6 months. So what I’d like to know is… does this mean that there is to be a Contempt of Court filed, a Motion to Show Cause, visit to CSE, etc? Which is the proper route to take.
Thanks
Sidetracked
Contempt is probably the best route to take.