Legal Question in Family Law in Mississippi

Medical payments

I have had custody of my 12year old daughter for 10 years. My ex-wife orginally got custody where i was ordered to pay child support and half of all medical bills. 10 months later i got custody where as the child support order against me was dropped and she was to pay support when she became employed. Also I shall provide medical insurance for said child and the parties will divide equally all medical expenses of said child including but not limited to , doctors, dental, optical, drug, medical, hospital, auditory and related expenses. After 8 years the court finally set an amount for child support. We recieved 4 payments then we collected at the end of the year when taxes were refunded. Again this year we will collect at tax time. 1st question(She informed DHS that she could not pay half of the medical and they told her not to worry about it well my 12 old has a 4000.00 set of braces and shouldn't she have to pay! Also when we recieve the child support at the end of the year are we suppose to spend it on the child or may we spend it on things that would help the child etc (septic tank) seeing that we supported the child all year. She claims that the child support should pay for the braces but isn't that a seperate issue. Thanks


Asked on 2/24/04, 1:11 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Albert Pettigrew Law Offices Ph 228-875-8736

Re: Medical payments

The PSA states she is supposed to pay 1/2 of the medical bills. Maybe it is silent about dental bills or maybe the parties intended the definition of medical bills to include dental. Also, there may be a question about whether the PSA intended to include expenses that be cosmetic. So it is not possible to agree with your conclusion based on the information provided. You need to talk to an attorney about the issue.

As to spending the child support money received from the interception of her tax refund, the court will not require you to apply the money as a credit for the dental expense, and you can use the money any way you want since it is reimbursing you for past child care. Also, the dental expense is a separate issue.

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Answered on 2/24/04, 8:28 am


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