past due medical bills from his adopted kids

What is the name of your state? Kansas
My husband was in the middle of a divorce when we met he had two children with his ex wife they were divorced in 1997 she was going around taking the kids from one doctor to another giving them my husbands name for billing. In 1999 she was remarried and wanted her new husband to adopt her children. My husband did not want to sign adoption papers but she made it so hard on him to see his children. She started refusing to let him see his children. We had to take her back to court twice for 600.00 a pop then she made his child support go up. Got a restraining order on him just to make him look bad. she contacted him and told him if he wanted this to stop he would have to sign the adoption papers. He didn't want to but she was making our lives unliveable and we knew she wouldn't stop so he did sign the papers giving up his rights to his children. Her new husband then adopted them. He has no rights to his children now. We are now in the prosses of trying to buy a house but on his credit report there was past due medical bills for those kids that was never paid that we did not know about. Should he be expected to pay for medical bills when the Children no longer belong to him? I think that her husband that adopted the children should be the one to pay past due medical bills because when he adopted the kids they became his responsability. The bills were done when my husband still had rights to them but now he does not and I don't think it should be his responsability anymore.

[Seanscott]

He's not responsilbe for any new bills of course, but he is responsible for at least half of the bills for when the children were his.

[djohnson]

Before you take for granted he is responsible. He needs to find out what was in the divorce decree/ custody order. It was in affect at the time. If they were ordered to split it then he is responsible for half, if it's him, it's him. However, she can't just have the doctors charge him. She could give them any name. It would be her responsibility to pay it and then sue him for his portion which is stated in the custody order from that time. It's probably more time and money than it's worth if he is going to be responsible anyway.

Your right, He is responsible for half of the bills when he was still their legal father but this lawyer tried telling him that he could not sue her for half because the bills where in his name. I think that he was just jerking us around. My husband told him he will pay half but thats it, she is reponsible for the rest. I hope we don't have to go to court for this.

[djohnson]

If they are in his name then he may have to pay half and then so her for the difference. First he needs to try and validate the charges. He never signed for them would be a good place to start before having to pay an attorney. If he explains that his ex did this and they allowed her to then you may have legal causes against her depending on what all she actually did to get them to bill him instead of her. I would notify them that you didn't authorize the charges. Unless ofcourse he did, then he will have to pay all and sue her for difference.