questions re: support, insurance, etc.

[agirlinaz]

we are in arizona.my husband had a brief affair with a girl. it stopped and we have worked on
our marriage. 8 months ago, we were served with court papers for
paternity and child support, the child is 3 years old. we have done the
DNA test, and will soon be facing the arrearages which will go to the
state since she was on welfare the whole time and the only reason she went forward with the child support request was because they were going to cut off her benefits. we are not going to have any relationship with the little girl, and that has been after much thought, so please no lectures.

i am not against him paying child support, the state shouldn't have to pay for her upbringing. but i am wondering since we will probably be providing insurance as part of the requirements, who pays the copays? does she call us everytime she wants to go to the doctor to ask for the copay? can we have a note notarized saying to bill all copays to my husband? i do not want any contact with this woman, as recently she has told my husband that despite all the time that has passed, etc, she still loves him. we
don't need that in our lives.

anyone out there whose ex pays child support and provides the
insurance know what happens with the copays? the copay for
prescriptions, etc? i would appreciate the advice and how you work it
out in your situation. is there a way we can reduce this to as little
contact with this woman as possible? like just when we have to go
back every whatever years to reevaluate his financial situation to make
support where it should be.

thanks.

[Edited by agirlinaz on 01-28-2001 at 02:41 PM]

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

My response:

If the insurance policy belongs to you and your husband, and in the absence of an agreement or a court order to the contrary, all co-pays are your responsibility.

I would suggest that your husband file a Petition for proper court orders for child support before matters get out of hand.

IAAL

 

[agirlinaz]

thank you IAAL. that is what i thought. we have not even started paying support, we are waiting for the DNA test results to come in, and then we will be starting whatever the court mandates for support, and arrearages. i just wondered if we had a notarized letter for the mother to take to doctor's appointments saying that the copays are to be billed to us, and have us as the insured party on the paperwork, with our address to send bills. we are not paying her support directly now because we know it won't count, but of course will be as soon as it is court ordered and is taken out of his paychecks.

thanks again.

 

[melajone]

My daughter's father provides her insurance and we split the co-pay (he also pays support - I am the CP). My fiancee is the NCP and he provides insurance and pays support yet his ex shoulders all of the co-pay. (of course the insurance company would probably come to us if she refused to pay) But this is what each of our situations were court ordered. Just thought you'd like some examples.

 

[agirlinaz]

thanks for the info! i guess it can go both ways, we will just have to specifically ask that the court papers state if we are to pay that she send us the bill, i don't want her calling every time she wants us to take her the $10. thanks.

 

[melajone]

Yeah, I am not sure how they decided it in each of our cases. But I wouldn't want her calling all the time either. I usually wait until I have enough to bother with and then make copies of the paid reciepts and send him copies, then he pays me back.

 

[agirlinaz]

do you happen to know the answer to this? the mother has no insurance for the child. she is currently on welfare and is on state medicaid. my husband does not get benefits at work and i can't afford to put him on my plan. my question is, will they continue her with welfare and medicaid and keep the monthly support money? that is what i have been told.

thanks again.

 

[melajone]

Just speaking from experience..I was on Medicaid while pregnant and my daughter was after she was born, until her father got insurance for her. He did not have to pay anything back. But I believe if I were to recieve AFDC he would have money witheld from his tax return (Aid for Families with Dependent Children). At least that is the way it is in Indiana. But you guys won't be punished if the child recieves Medicaid (because it is an insurance program) - but if she were to recieve cash assistance the NCP usually is required to pay a portion back to the government. You should be able to find out at your local welfare office (although people there aren't always exactly friendly or helpful - but you never know). Hope that helps - again this is just my experience and I live in Indiana - so it could be different.

 

[agirlinaz]

thanks for the info, i will look up stuff re: my state.

thanks again.