here in dayton, ohio, our hospitals have social workers who talk with the patients about paying for their medical care. they are very knowledgeable. maybe your local hospital in NC is the same way.

start there. make a lot of phone calls and check some websites. there is probably assistance available.

good luck. :)

HI Il. If you have the card in order to get military benefits, you can call and find out for yourself, which you apparently did. Then get it in writing and send it to your ex. Having something in print really stops any potential arguments.

My ex was terrible with our son with braces and he needed a partial. My son was missing permanent teeth that were not there to come in and then some teeth were coming in sideways. The kid needed help. Thank goodness my attorney had been so good in the divorce decree and had locked this all down really well. In fact she even had that each party had to provide the printed policy within xx days of receipt by them to the other and updates received within 10 days to the other. It made a huge difference.

My ex really didn't want to allow the child to have the mouth work done, but it was undisputed by a few specialists that the child needed the work done and it was done and it took years of work due to age and the braces and then at a certain age the partial was done.

Time,
my child has the same problem, some permanent teeth didn't come in and has been seeing the orthodontist for years now. I have been telling the X for years now to get ready, the kids will need braces and the time has come. I have asked for a re-evaluation of child support. I'm hoping to get enough more to cover the braces since it's always such a pain working with the X.

Thanks for the idea, V, I will check it out.

Here in NY state, the sharing of medical costs are in addition to child support, not part of it, but are still required by both parents. So my STBX is paying me court-ordered child support, PLUS 1/2 of the amount I pay for health care for him and the kids. He can't just unilaterally decide to deduct it from the total he pays for child support. It's IN ADDITION to child support. He should be made to pay half.

yes, ours is the same, heathcosts are in addition to child support, but some would argue that braces are not necessities. His parents provided him with braces, I think we should be do the same for our children even tho there is no us anymore.

It's not a question of what's necessary. Any expenses that I deem are necessary because I'm the custodial parent are to be paid 1/2 by him. He doesn't get to decide whether it's necessary or not. So go ahead and get the braces and send him a copy of the bill, demanding 1/2. Don't let him get away with that BS.

Just because I'm curious CherylT- what would prevent you from giving a teen age kid a nose job (for example) or something cosmetic that is not medically necessary. In that case, why should the ex be on the hook for half of a purely elective surgery?

I'm not trying to be a smarta**. I'm honestly curious if there is a mechanism in place to prevent that kind of thing from happeneing.

Well, for one thing I couldn't afford the other half of that!!! :) I guess the ex could always go to court to have the court decide, and I would say a nose job for purely cosmetic purposes would be out of line; however, if there is a medical need (broken nose, deviated septum causing breathing problems) then it would still be allowed, I assume. No one has told me what isn't allowed, and I am not an abuser of the system so I would never do such a thing, but I suppose some people would. So I would guess that the couple would have to go to court over it.