Legal Question in Family Law in Rhode Island

Your question seems to be a bit choppy here but I believe I see how it was broken up in sentences so I shall endeavor to answer it for you.

If you have joint legal custody of the child the work was performed for and you were not consulted about the work to be performed, then you may be able to challenge all or part of the bill since your former spouse did not consult you pursuant to your right of joint legal custody. Given the amount of the bill it is reasonable to take the position that if you had joint legal custody that you should have had a say in what work was done, whether it needed to be done, whether that particular dentist should have performed the work, and whether it would have been best to get a second opinion.

Prior to the whole cosmetic enhancement era, dentists were not known for recommending or performing unnecessary dental work. That is still substantially true today although some dentists have moved toward cosmetic enhancement rather than necessary work.

If the insurance company covered part of it, chances are it was not cosmetic. Therefore, it will generally be seen by the court as reasonably necessary. Now, if your ex-spouse financed some of the work and paid interest and finance charges over the years to pay for these services, the question is whether you should have had the opportunity to pay your 1/2 differently so you could avoid those charges or to pay off your part of the work early so you didn't have all the interest. Perhaps you would have financed it differently and it would not have cost you that much.

If your divorce agreement is exactly as you state it in your question then chances are you would be held, in the least, to paying 1/2 of what the bill is from the dentist. Not necessarily the total financed bill which has finance and interest charges added on to it over the years of payments you mention. Thus, if the total dental bill that was not covered by insurance was $2,000 for the dental service itself and the $500 was merely extra in interest and finance charges, then you should expect that the court will find you obligated to pay your ex-spouse back $1,000 as your half of the dental costs. This is assuming a best case scenario in your favor using one or both arguments I have noted here.

However, if you couldn't have paid off your portion other than by financing in the same amount of time that your ex-spouse did then you should anticipate that you may be held to pay half of the entire balance and the court might consider that your ex-spouse did you a favor and if your divorce agreement provides for it, award her attorney's fees and costs for your failure to pay your half.

In many cases as you can see, arguments can be made from several different perspectives. There are no definitive answers to your question because different factors are at work here. Ultimately if a family court judge is asked to enforce the agreement then it depends upon how the judge interprets the information and arguments in accordance with your divorce agreement and what the judge decides.

Your question itself and this answer demonstrate precisely why divorce and family law attorneys are needed in many situations. We present arguments and counter-arguments for the judge to balance and consider consistent with the facts to advocate for our clients.

I hope this helps. If you need an affordable advice session, please do not hesitate to contact me.

My very best to you in this situation which I see all too often.