Legal Question in Family Law in Massachusetts
to pay or not to pay
Mediation quote- ''Out of pocket expenses for medical and dental to be shared equally 50/50 by J and--name removed--''
Divorce papers quote- ''J shall provide health ins. for the benifit of the children. The parties agree to equally share in all of the children's uninsured,medical,dental,pharmacutical and mental health costs'' Question--J, my ex is telling me I am required to pay 1/2
of her insurance co-pay(family plan) to cover the children. My understanding is that I am required only to cover 1/2 of any uninsured co-pays, (things not covered by her insurance), not to cover 1/2 of her insurance premium. Am I correct in my thinking?
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: to pay or not to pay
Yes.
Re: to pay or not to pay
Without seeing the whole Agreement, my answer here is limited.
The normal situation is that child support is calculated with the cost of insurance in mind. If you pay for the insurance, half of your cost is subtracted from your child support. If the custodial parent pays, half of his/her cost is added to the weekly child support under the Guidelines.
It would be double-dipping to require you to take responsibility for half of this cost one way or another.
Thus, absent something in the Agreement that you have not shared, I presume that the 50-50 sharing is ONLY for uninsured expenses (e.g., co-pays, prescription medicines, reasonable but uninsured procedures).
: to pay or not to pay
As stated, it sounds from the divorce papers that J is totally liable for the cost of the health insurance. As Greg stated, the best analysis is by reading the entire court order.
If you need help, contact me.
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