Legal Question in Family Law in Missouri
Uncovered medical expenses
Judgment pending dissolution proceeding: Filed 4/8/04
The Parenting Plan-Basic filed states Father to pay for health benefit plan for the children. Parents to split uncoved expenses 50/50, mother paying first $100 per child per year.
Family Court Judgement: Filed 1/14/05 States under child support that Respondent is ordered to pay Respondant said amount for support. So I am to pay myself?
Parenting Plan states father to pay for health benefit plan for the children. Parents to split uncovered expenses 50/50, mother paying first $100 per child per year.
Marital Settlement Agreement states husband and wife agree to each pay one half of all expenses not paid through insurance, etc., incurred after the date of this Agreement.
So after reading the above captions, what judgment or agreement do I go by? The Pending or the Family Court Judgment or the settlement agreement. And do I pay myself for the Support, since that is what it says in writting.
Talk about confusing and contradicting verbage.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Uncovered medical expenses
First: If you were represented by an attorney in this divorce, you should immediately contact him/her so a correction can be made to the final judgment. It appears that the order requiring Respondent to pay Respondent was a clerical error and it can easily be corrected if done so within 30 days of the decree.
Second: The final judgment supercedes (replaces) the temporary order of April 2004 and that is what you should now follow (with the above exception).
Regarding the medical expenses: This is another ambiguity that should be resolved by correcting the final decree. If not, follow the decree in this regard rather than the parenting plan.
Re: Uncovered medical expenses
If you had an attorney for the divorce, you should be addressing these questions to him or her. If you did not have an attorney why not? Perhaps your attorney would have avoided the probelems you now have.
If you are not represented, I can tell you that the language from the Family Court Judgment entered on Jan.14,2005 is controlling. You can forget about the earlier court order,. It was only effective while the case was going on.
The error in the Judgment telling Respondent to pay Respondent should be corrected. Normally, this can be done by an attorney with a Motion seeking the entry of a Nunc Pro Tunc Order correcting a clerical mistake. As far as the other items of confusion, I would need to actually see the documents to provide any advice, but it might be possible to clarify them with a post-Judgment Motion if you file one within thirty days of Jan. 14,2005. My advice would be to talk to your attorney or hire an attorney at this point to help you.
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