Time Limit On Medical Bills?

[wonderingmind]

What is the name of your state? Ohio

My husband was court ordered in his divorce to pay half of any medical bills for the children that were not covered by insurance. However, he has never received a bill from his ex wife. She has been saving up these bills for years and is now talking about getting a judgement and collecting from him. In anticipation that she was hording these bills to collect all at once, we had it written in some change of custody papers a couple of years ago that she had only sixty days to send us the bills by certified mail, which she has never done. Does anyone know the law in Ohio of how long an ex spouse has to present medical bills? Does the fact that she signed an agreement to provide them within 60 days overrule any other law there may be? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

[freespeech]

Your Atty must have felt confident when he/she included this information in the paperwork.

 

[wonderingmind]

I'm not sure how confident any of us were, but we added that in hopes that it would help us in the future!

 

[casa]

What is the name of your state? Ohio

My husband was court ordered in his divorce to pay half of any medical bills for the children that were not covered by insurance. However, he has never received a bill from his ex wife. She has been saving up these bills for years and is now talking about getting a judgement and collecting from him. In anticipation that she was hording these bills to collect all at once, we had it written in some change of custody papers a couple of years ago that she had only sixty days to send us the bills by certified mail, which she has never done. Does anyone know the law in Ohio of how long an ex spouse has to present medical bills? Does the fact that she signed an agreement to provide them within 60 days overrule any other law there may be? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Was the agreement signed by the court and made part of the court order? If so- the court order stands.

 

[LdiJ]

Was the agreement signed by the court and made part of the court order? If so- the court order stands.

However it may not stand for any medical bills incurred prior to the new agreement being made.

 

[wonderingmind]

Yes, it was signed by the court. In the event that the new agreement doesn't cover bills incurred prior to then, does anyone know if there is a statute of limitations on providing an ex spouse with medical bills? Thanks!

 

[frankrozanc]

Standard of reasonableness

There is no set SOL for this situation, but most magistrates are going to look at the reasonableness of the obligee spouse holding onto these debts ad infinitum, and probably show her the door. You should have your attorney send her a letter demanding a complete list of bills within 30 days, or forever waive her claims.

 

[maggierae]

would not worry over this one

I dont know about your state but I would not worry too much about this one if I were you and believe me, I have been thru it all with my husband, his ex also stockpiled med bills, I'm talking having bill from dental office to have baby teeth checked, we received copy of bill when the baby was 17. There are some things that are just too ridiculous, even for family law to condone. This is all done out of vengence. Nothing to do for needed care for the child. Besides, most standard divorce papers do stipulate one way or the other that this info has to be turned over to the other party within a certain amount of time. My husbands papers stated 30 days, not 15 years. Good luck.

 

[kat1963]

I agree. If you have a stipulation that was made a court order then she is SOL. In addition you'll be able to bring up the laches doctrine as a defense:

LACHES, DOCTRINE OF - Based on the maxim that equity aids the vigilant and not those who procrastinate regarding their rights; Neglect to assert a right or claim that, together with lapse of time and other circumstances, prejudices an adverse party. Neglecting to do what should or could, have been done to assert a claim or right for an unreasonable and unjustified time causing disadvantage to another.

Laches is similar to 'statute of limitations' except is equitable rather than statutory and is a common affirmative defense raised in civil actions.

http://www.lectlaw.com/def/l056.htm

Do I guess correctly that child support is about to terminate?

KAT

 

[LdiJ]

The Judge is NOT going to look to favorably on this. There doesn't have to be specific language to address every little thing -- especially since most people *should* have common sense. Obviously, the ex is an idiot & lacks common sense. It doesn't matter what excuse the ex offers for holding on to these, there's no way a Judge is going to buy it. One poster gave you a great suggestion -- send a letter to her attorney requesting bills within the last 30 days or waive them all. I wouldn't be surprised if the ex is going to be surprised to hear that since she held onto the bills, she's going to be eating them -- at least the costs in them.

These bills are to be paid within 30 days (that's why alot of them show any balances past due after 30/60/90 days -- and some even charge 'late fees', etc.).

Lets remember however that sometimes its a problem to present a bill within 30 days....particularly if insurance is involved. Bills are often not recieved from the providers until after its known how much that insurance is going to cover.

Obviously that has nothing to do with the OP's situation...but I think its important to remember.

 

[haiku]

Lets remember however that sometimes its a problem to present a bill within 30 days....particularly if insurance is involved. Bills are often not recieved from the providers until after its known how much that insurance is going to cover.

Obviously that has nothing to do with the OP's situation...but I think its important to remember.

the 30 day clock usually starts with the bill for treatment, not the treatment itself.