Under the terms of our custody agreement, both parents agree to share our minor child’s expenses 50/50. If one party requests expense receipts from the other, are receipts required by law to be produced?
Typically this is outlined in agreements that receipts should be given within a reasonable time period.
I’m assuming if not, that it is reasonable to request them.
Thank you for your response. Here’s a follow up question: The agreement does not specify when one party has to pay the other party any money owed due to paying more expenses than the 50/50 requirement. Seven months have elapsed since the date of divorce. The party that is owed money was slow to submit receipts and comply with attempts by the other party to generate an up to date expense report. Now, the report is up-to-date, receipts have been submitted and the party that owes money claims there is no requirement to pay all of the amount owed due to the elapsed time and difficulty involved in going back seven months to produce their own receipts. Is seven months a reasonable time to settle up?
If there is no outside time limit in the agreement, then it doesn’t sound like the other party has a reason to refuse to pay the expense, especially if it has only been 7 months, which is within the statute of limitations even if the contract was not signed under seal.
If I need to enforce this issue through the Court, can I do so in Small Claims Court or do I have to use Family Court?
I’m not entirely sure, but I think you need to file Breach of Contract with family court.
If it’s an agreement, you would be filing a breach of contract action. If it’s a court order, you would be filing a motion for contempt in the underlying action.