Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia
Child Health Care--Divorce Agreement
My daughter needs braces. My divorce agreement states the following: Husband shall maintain the existing policy of health and dental insurance on the child or a comparable policy providing comparable beneifits, so long as she is an eligible dependent for health insurance purposes and shall pay all medical, dental, and vision expenses of the child not covered by such insurance. The final decree states: Husband shall reimburse 100% of any extraordinary uninsured expenses in excess of $100 for a single illness or condition and shall include include but not limited to eyeglasses, prescription medications, prostheses and mental health services. My ex husband says he is not responsible for braces for our daughter. Question: My daughter is in need of braces. Does my agreement/decree hold him responsible for the braces? What can I do if he continues to refuse to pay for the braces? Is this a contempt issue? I live in Colorado. He now lives in Michigan. The divorce was filed in Virginia. That is where we lived when married. Thanking you in advance for your help.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Child Health Care--Divorce Agreement
If the PSA(Property Settlement Agreement) specifies that (husband) "shall pay all medical, dental and vision expenses of the child not covered by such insurance", that provision of the PSA would appear conclusive as to this issue. (As far as I am aware,
braces are still considered to be or to involve dental work and the expenses such entails.)
Your problem, however, will involve enforcing this provision if your former husband continues in his refusal to pay for it, since both you and he apparently no longer reside in the Commonwealth which issued the final decree. Which means that to have any realistic chance of enforcing it, you would need to enroll or register your Virginia divorce decree in the appropriate court in Michigan which also would likely involve your hiring a Michigan attorney who is familiar with this procedure as it's currently practiced in that state and you would probably also need this same lawyer to enforce it.
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