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Unpaid medical bills

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ummzak

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

I Have Paid All My Child/spousal Support, And Fulfilled All The Requirements in my Divorce, And My Child Turned 18 Last Yr And She Turns 19 In April 2010, Now My Ex Is Demanding Unpaid Medical Bills That I Never Knew About. What Are My Legal Rights? My wife and I live outside the US, we work as English teachers in 3rd world countries and we have 3 boys. What can I do to protect my family?
 


Gracie3787

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

I Have Paid All My Child/spousal Support, And Fulfilled All The Requirements in my Divorce, And My Child Turned 18 Last Yr And She Turns 19 In April 2010, Now My Ex Is Demanding Unpaid Medical Bills That I Never Knew About. What Are My Legal Rights? My wife and I live outside the US, we work as English teachers in 3rd world countries and we have 3 boys. What can I do to protect my family?
What does your court order say regarding medical expenses?

How long ago were the bills incurred?
 

ummzak

Junior Member
14 yrs

:confused: I am supposed to pay the deductable, plus 50% of unpiad medical bills, every month I paid her insurance fees from Blue cross of Ca, which were $88 per month, but never paid the deductable, since she never asked for it, she has given me 14 yrs worth of medical bills, that I had no idea about, according to her they are worth 40K, I can't understand why she never gave me the bills, or even mentioned them once, if I need to pay 40K, that means she also must have paid 40K, after talking to my daughter, she stated that she almost never went to the Dr.'s, I tried to settle with her, but now, we have not heard from her, know how vindictive she is, I'm afraid that she will sue me or do some kind of legal action that I am unaware of, I am trying to find out, if I need to get a lawyer or not, can she come after me after my kid tuned 18? And can she ask for 14 yrs of medical bills?
 

meanyjack

Member
:confused: I am supposed to pay the deductable, plus 50% of unpiad medical bills, every month I paid her insurance fees from Blue cross of Ca, which were $88 per month, but never paid the deductable, since she never asked for it, she has given me 14 yrs worth of medical bills, that I had no idea about, according to her they are worth 40K, I can't understand why she never gave me the bills, or even mentioned them once, if I need to pay 40K, that means she also must have paid 40K, after talking to my daughter, she stated that she almost never went to the Dr.'s, I tried to settle with her, but now, we have not heard from her, know how vindictive she is, I'm afraid that she will sue me or do some kind of legal action that I am unaware of, I am trying to find out, if I need to get a lawyer or not, can she come after me after my kid tuned 18? And can she ask for 14 yrs of medical bills?
She can ask. She can ask for the Real Slim Shady to please stand up.

But will she get 14 years of medical bills?

Hell no!

What EXACTLY does your order say about submitting medical bills to the other parent, etc? What kind of "settlement" did you offer her? Did you offer it in writing or verbally? She could sue you and probably get a couple of months worth -- BUT she won't get just anything.
 

ummzak

Junior Member
Email from Ex

Hello meanjack, this is the email she sent us:-

(Attached to this email is a copy of Christie’s unreimbursed medical expenses starting with one bill in 2004 to the date child support ended (high school graduation, 09). It is a sample and not all inclusive of the last 14 years. Two of the larger expenses indicated on this list include her braces and a hospital bill. I was not able to pay the hospital bill right away so I also sent you a copy of the letter when it was sent to collections for resolution.


This sample does NOT include prescriptions, glasses, a complete amount of her $250. deductable annually and her medical insurance increasing to $273.05 2x/month and dental $9.02 totaling $564.14 per month.


Last week I sent you an email with a proposal to finalize Christie’s child support. The intent of this proposal was to come to an agreement that would lower your costs (per Christie’s request), save me time and money and finalize any past child support obligations.


In our Marital Settlement Agreement paragraph 34, it states that "This agreement may be modified by subsequent agreement of the parties only by an instrument in writing signed by both of them". Therefore, we can make changes to the original agreement. In my proposal, I suggested that you put together the agreement with an amount, stating that it would finalize all support.


There is a charge from the insurance company to put together an inclusive unreimbursed medical expense report dating back to 1996. If I file it within the courts system, there will also be attorney and filing fees. You were responsible for 100% of her annual deductable ($250/year) and medical insurance (increasing over the years and caping at $564.14/month). Additionally you were responsible for 50% of her medical expenses including prescriptions. I have also sent you some of the explaination of benifits totalling over $10,000. for just the past few years. It makes since for both of us to come to an agreement.
This is my final attempt to come to an agreement with you.)

What do you think?
 

TinkerBelleLuvr

Senior Member
Research the term: laches

Laches in law indicates an unreasonable delay or negligence in pursuing a right or claim. It is associated with suits in equity. Where the plaintiff in equity delays in making their claim, even a valid claim, their relief may be refused on the grounds of laches.
A defense of laches basically means that it's unfair to allow a claim to continue because someone took too long to lodge it. It's an equitable doctrine, so it's not a defense in all lawsuits; it's usually not applicable in child support cases, but I'm sure your attorney knows best.
What it means to you that you can ask the courts to dismiss most but the last few years because they took too long to make the request for reimbursement.
 

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