Legal Question in Family Law in Iowa

Re: enforcement

I do not know your state's statute on this or how your jurisdiction handles this kind of problem, so you will need to check with an attorney. That said . . .

Before you think about court, think about how your Ex is notified that s/he has a bill to pay. I'll make some assumptions about how it works for you: (1) Since you have the insurance, the health care provider has you listed as the responsible party. (2) Health care providers submit bills to your insurance company. (3) The bill shows the uninsured balance due and the provider sends the bill to you. (4) Ex doesn't know about it unless you tell Ex. If you lived here, your attorney or the court would have included some kind of notification procedure -- Ex would not be obligated to pay anything until you send a copy of the bill to Ex, then s/he has a certain number of days to either pay the provider or reimburse you.

I told you all that as background information so that, if you and your Ex have a pretty good business relationship, perhaps you can negotiate a notice and payment procedure, put it in writing, sign and date it, and file it with the court as a Stipulated Modification to Decree. Overloaded courts appreciate parents who can work things out and avoid the acrimony of more litigation.

But if that won't work, or you've tried it and it hasn't worked, here's what I would do in my state. In my jurisdiction, I would file a Motion to Enforce Order and for Contempt, asking the Court to enforce its order requiring Ex to pay medicals, to reimburse me for what I paid, to hold Ex in contempt of the existing order, and to pay my attorney fees and other costs incurred in bringing this motion before the Court. I've been involved in several cases where the nonpaying parent gets dragged in every six months or so when s/he falls far enough behind to make the hassle worth the moving party's time and effort. Keep good records -- copies of all bills, when you sent Ex a copy, etc.