Arrearages from prior medical order?

What is the name of your state?Texas
My husband received a certified letter a couple of months back from his former spouse about oweing past medical support that was court ordered & a couple of medical receipts. We didnt know where all this was coming from considering he's been paying his child support & has had their daughter covered under health insurance since day one. The other day he receives a Notice of Writ of Withholding & Notice of Intent to Report letter from the attorney general. They say he owes $5,486.02 of arrears & interest. And he has 30 days to pay it or they will report it with the credit bureaus. In their decree, he was ordered to pay child support, provide medical insurance & additional medical support of $44.00 a month reimbursing the ex for carrying their daughter on her insurance. However, it also states that once she terminates employment, she has to find private insurance & give him written notice. She never gave him notice & denied his medical coverage. She has remarried & my step daughter is covered under her mothers husbands insurance. Infact the certified letter that was sent to us was medical receipts that my husband has to pay. Its not even half, its the full amount shes after. (Including braces that were not needed) My husband went & talked to the att. gen & they acted like he was in the wrong. They put the case on hold until everything was figured out. They have it broken down on this Writ of Witholding, child support, past due child support, current medical support, past due medical support. On the current medical support is that $44.00 listed monthly, which he should not even be obligated to pay! Could someone please give us some advice on what actions need to be taken. Since the att gen is involved, we thought they could handle it. All feedback much appreciated. Thank You

Get their ear...

I'm going to start this off by saying that $5500 is a substantial amount of money -- you need to seriously consider seeking the assistance of an att'y to get this mess ironed-out. Time is not on your side and if you do nothing, you can look forward to this amount being garnished. My experience with the AG's office is that they utilize a "shoot first, ask questions later" approach. Like you indicated, guilty until proven innocent.

If a CP presents a complaint with any sort of "proof", the AG's first move is to send out the notice you received...this is not merely a wake-up-call...the actual garnishment will follow shortly. You will have a brief window to contest the complaint (as indicated on the notice, this should be done in writing.) It is good that your case is in a "hold" status...but this will not last forever -- you need to ACTIVELY pursue this matter until it is resolved. Be the "squeaky wheel".

Your husband needs to be contacting his actual case worker and if possible, the AG's attorney assigned to his case -- not just the front-end admin. staff. Get a fax number...this is the easiest way to get your "proof" in front of your case worker quickly. In my case, I had to send over my entire decree with the appropriate sections highlighted -- and a letter to explain what I would have thought would be easily understandable to a person who deals with this type of issue every day.

Your husband needs to be professional in all of his communication (and keep his temper.) Although the AG's office is supposed to be impartial to either party, they will not necessarily be "on your side". They will try to determine what is in the child's best interest, and if you're a paying NCP, that might sound pretty good.

One thing that's working in your favor is that the CP may have had the right/duty to confer with your husband regarding these issues (medical treatment, insurance.) An attorney in your area will be able to counsel you on how strong of a defense you would have and could put the brakes on the AG's office. At a hearing, a judge might very well find that the ex was negligent in notification...and if this matter goes all the way to a hearing, the judge may order ex to pay your reasonable att'y fees.

Don't go it alone...get some advice from your local att'y. The AG's office will pay attention to an attorney's arguments when they won't give your the time of day. Good luck.

Thanks Inquiry

Thank you very much for the info. As luck would have it....things actually ended up working out in my favor. Of course I had to provide tons of information (my innocence). Thankfully my former employer(State of Texas) had all of my information, C/S, Ins,etc... still on file. This time around the office manager at the A/G's office was more understanding once he caught my ex trying to double dip (which by the way was due to my incredible wifes extensive research---not the A/G). Anyhow, the once $5500.00 + debt I was accused of owing has now been dwindled down to a measly $558.00, an additional $25.00 a month payment, for past reimbursment I was actually obligated to pay. Big difference huh? Anyhow, I owe it, I'll pay it. Once again, Thanks alot....and chalk one up for the underdogs.

mjtuck said:

What is the name of your state?Texas
My husband received a certified letter a couple of months back from his former spouse about oweing past medical support that was court ordered & a couple of medical receipts. We didnt know where all this was coming from considering he's been paying his child support & has had their daughter covered under health insurance since day one. The other day he receives a Notice of Writ of Withholding & Notice of Intent to Report letter from the attorney general. They say he owes $5,486.02 of arrears & interest. And he has 30 days to pay it or they will report it with the credit bureaus. In their decree, he was ordered to pay child support, provide medical insurance & additional medical support of $44.00 a month reimbursing the ex for carrying their daughter on her insurance. However, it also states that once she terminates employment, she has to find private insurance & give him written notice. She never gave him notice & denied his medical coverage. She has remarried & my step daughter is covered under her mothers husbands insurance. Infact the certified letter that was sent to us was medical receipts that my husband has to pay. Its not even half, its the full amount shes after. (Including braces that were not needed) My husband went & talked to the att. gen & they acted like he was in the wrong. They put the case on hold until everything was figured out. They have it broken down on this Writ of Witholding, child support, past due child support, current medical support, past due medical support. On the current medical support is that $44.00 listed monthly, which he should not even be obligated to pay! Could someone please give us some advice on what actions need to be taken. Since the att gen is involved, we thought they could handle it. All feedback much appreciated. Thank You

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If the original order stated that your husband was to pay an additional $44 a month towards a health insurance premium provided by the ex, then he is still obligated to pay this amount every month, whether or not she secured private insurance upon her termination. You can hold her in contempt for not securing different insurance as ordered, but your husband is still obligated to pay his $44 until ordered otherwise.

Who are you to say a child's braces weren't needed? Why in the world would ANYONE put their child thru the pain, time, & expense of braces if they weren't really needed?
Cosmetically or medically. Sounds like this is your personal opinion and you're just trying to get out of paying anything you can.

The original order does state that he has to pay the $44.00 premium, through her employment. She quit her job right after the divorce was final. We are still trying to figure out if she was receiving government assistance at that time. However, if the ins could not be converted or it just wasnt available, then the decree says my husband purchases & maintains coverage at all times.(which he does) My husband did his part by offering ins to his ex for their daughter, unfortunately she denied it. It even states in the decree how secondary coverage benefits both parties and the child.
As far as the braces go. The reason how I know she doesnt need them RIGHT NOW is because shes 10 & she still has teeth growing in.
My husband is not trying to get out of paying anything, maybe a little justice from being screwed over and also ruining his credit. He knows the ex is a gold digger and will make his life hell for the rest of his life. But he is no deadbeat. He pays more than enough child support, sees his daughter when he's suppose to and most of all loves her more than anything. Thats more than I can say about alot of LOSERS in this world!

mjtuck said:

The original order does state that he has to pay the $44.00 premium, through her employment. She quit her job right after the divorce was final. We are still trying to figure out if she was receiving government assistance at that time. However, if the ins could not be converted or it just wasnt available, then the decree says my husband purchases & maintains coverage at all times.(which he does) My husband did his part by offering ins to his ex for their daughter, unfortunately she denied it. It even states in the decree how secondary coverage benefits both parties and the child.
As far as the braces go. The reason how I know she doesnt need them RIGHT NOW is because shes 10 & she still has teeth growing in.
My husband is not trying to get out of paying anything, maybe a little justice from being screwed over and also ruining his credit. He knows the ex is a gold digger and will make his life hell for the rest of his life. But he is no deadbeat. He pays more than enough child support, sees his daughter when he's suppose to and most of all loves her more than anything. Thats more than I can say about alot of LOSERS in this world!

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Okay I can't speak on anything else in your post but who are you to say that the child doesn't need braces?
My son is 5 and I had to get a $2500 retainer. He has tons of teeth growing in still and it was advised that I try and tackle his teeth and their growth pattern now instead of trying to correct it when he's 10 or 12 with braces and possibly $5000+ in costs of those braces.
The only way I may understand you is that this unprofessional orthodontist put those braces in for minor cosmetic reasons which iin the grand scheme of things is what most braces and retainers are for unless the person is in physical pain, most braces and retainers are for cosmetic reasons. (that's why insurance companies will laugh in some of their clients faces when they try to see if it's covered under insurance.)
Give that girl her braces for goodness sake or send it directly to the orthodontist, but don't try quibble the whole, "she doesn't need them" thing.

I do understand your point about the retainer. Although its rare that kids get retainers & braces under the age of 10, unless its extremely necessary. My 4 year old daughter sucks her two fingers and is causing her to have buck teeth. So she may need a retainer or something of that sort within the next year or two..... Anyway back to my step daughter. I think what really upset my husband was the fact that his ex told him I need $4,000 from you today for braces. His new dental ins would not go into effect for another month, and he tried to explain his ins would help take care of the overall price. She had to have a spacer in for 2 months beforehand anyway. It was not an "emergency" I guess is what I should have said. She could have been cooperative with everything, but instead she ended up having to pay what ins did not cover because there was no communication. Needless to say, the braces are on, its all taken care of, and you better to be glad shes not your ex!