Legal Question in Family Law in New Jersey
Dental expense
My ex and I have equal joint custody and equal Physical custody on out child. We split all expensed 50/50 which is primarily school tuition. This is spelled out in the divorce decree. We dont nit pick over things such as clothes or incidentials expenses. I agreed to cover cover child with dental insurance, which i do. What happends when dental insurance doesn't cover ortho and insurance only covers a minimal portion. Should we both be responsible for the uninsured expenditure? If everything else is split 50/50 than shouldn't this be? We agreed to pay for half each and my ex thinks that they are doing me a favor by paying half. To this day I havent been paid for any of the expenses and now believes they dont have to pay for any either. Because I cover the child for dental coverage they believe I have to cover him for ortho also. Ortho is optional(cosmetic expense) Please advise. Am i wrong in asking for this portion of payment or not?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Dental expense
It really depends on the exact wording in your Property Settlement Agreement or the Final Judgment of Divorce (whichever the case may be). If there is an ambiguity, a Court would need to decide, by the filing of a Motion, if this is a big enough dispute for either of you to go to Court over.
Keep in mind that this advice is based purely on the little bit of information that you have given to me. There certainly may be other factors that would change my opinion. Further, no one can rely on advice from an attorney who has not been retained. Since it appears that you have not retained an attorney, you may want to contact a Family Law attorney (either me or someone else) to discuss your matter in more detail. Only then will you be able to rely on the advice. If you call me, mention Law Guru and your first one hour consultation will be free. Good luck! Rob Gleaner
Re: Dental expense
The way 99% of these issues are resolved is that if you are paying 50% of everything else then you would pay 50% of all other costs, i.e. karate classes, dental, whatever. I don't think this is anything you need an attorney for, or even a court for that matter. I strongly advise working this out between the two of you.
If you do have to go to court, you can get an attorney but I don't think you will need one. You may want to at least consult with one to make sure you are on the right path with regard to your argument. Many attorneys, such as myself, have free consultations.
If you do have to go to court, I would ask that the court issue an order that indicates that all necessary expenses be split the same 50-50. This way, the only fight after that will be what is a necessary expense.
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