If he has joint legal custody he is equally responsible to make medical decisions for the child. That would include being told of doctor visits.
The issue of child support could be answered by running the calculator on the main site and using the guidelines set by the state.
The issue of medical expenses is normally agreed upon by the parents and split with them each paying half of unisured medical costs such as co-pays, deductibles, and medicines. If there is no agreement and he is carrying the child on his medical coverage, then the bills probably come to him. He should pay these and then send a copy of the bill to the ex with a certified letter asking to be reimbursed for half of the cost. If the ex is getting the bills, then they should be paid and she has the right to ask for reimbursement also.
If they are not working together or willing to work together then joint custody is going to cause issues. If he is carrying the child on medical insurance, then IMHO, he should be informed of when the child goes to the doctor. He should be informed anyway because that is his child and that information should be given whether or not he pays child support or even gets to see the child…
thanks stepmother - you helped quite a bit…the ex is the type of person that don’t want to work together on anything. she takes child to doctor and never tells us anything…we usually find out from the child. Hopefully this can get addressed at some point.
Even if there is no order regarding child support he should pay whatever the guidelines require him to pay. Generally medical expenses are split pro-rata based on income. When child support is calculated he will receive credit for the payment of the health insurance.
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Helena M. Nevicosi
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my husband is divorce to ex - they had a separation agreement that included child support, medical expenses, insurance coverage etc. to which he was responsible for. the separation agreement was never incorporated into divorce agreement. We have been to court in 6/07 over child custoday and he has joint custody with every other weekend, and split holidays…changing each year. Medical expenses and child support and informing of dr visits was not addressed in current order. where does he stand on all of these issues…he still carries the medical coverage on child and pays insurance.