Anyone who is raising children knows that kids are expensive. When your child has medical problems that include items that are not covered by medical insurance, your medical bills can go sky high. The primary residential parent cannot be expected to pay all of those bills on his or her own. Tennessee’s Child Support Guidelines cover how the cost of uninsured medical expenses should be handled within the context of child support payments.

Uninsured medical expenses

For this example, a child lives with the primary residential parent, and the child’s medical needs are covered by the alternate residential parent’s insurance. The primary residential parent takes the child to the doctor or to receive dental care and incurs several different kinds of uninsured medical expenses including:

• Co-pays
• Deductibles
• Dental bills
• Orthodontia bills
• Vision loss requiring glasses

In this example, the primary residential parent would incur the expense out of their pocket and then they would have to calculate the monthly total and inform their co-parent of the amount that they are responsible to pay. Under the Tennessee Child Support Guidelines, the balance due for uninsured medical expenses is pro-rated based on each parent’s percentage share of income. So, the parent with the higher income pays a higher percentage of their income for these medical expenses.

If both parents have a cordial relationship, this arrangement might work for some co-parents. However, when the relationship is acrimonious, this leaves the parent who actually paid the bill with the unsavory task of collecting the unpaid portion from the co-parent.

Enforcing unreimbursed medical expenses

This can, unfortunately, leave one parent wondering how they will ever collect these unpaid expenses. If you are a primary residential parent who is dealing with trying to collect your co-parent’s portion of your child’s medical expenses, you may benefit from scheduling a consultation with a Nashville family law attorney about your situation. As long as you have all of the documentation for the expenses that you have paid and you have timely provided them to your co-parent, your attorney may be able to help you to collect that money in the same way that they would collect back child support payments, which is through a court order for garnishing wages, interception of the parent’s tax refund and charges of contempt of court if they continue to refuse to pay. There are time limits within which these enforcement actions may be taken, so talk with an experienced family law attorney right away.

The experienced Nashville family law attorneys at the law firm of Karla C. Miller and Associates are here to guide you through any difficulties you might be facing with regard to child support, child custody or any other family law issues.

If you are dealing with high medical bills for your child and you are not sure how to handle them, the knowledgeable, Nashville divorce attorneys at Karla C. Miller and Associates, PLLC are here to help. You are welcome to call 615-391-4200 or use our contact form to reserve your consultation with the knowledgeable legal team at Miller Upshaw Family Law, PLLC.