ex/med bills

[teejay]

according to the divorce decree, my ex is responsible for 50% of the medical bills for the children....i have paid 50% of the balance, after insurance. the balance is now my ex's...which she is not paying...my question is, in order to sue in small claims, do I have to pay the balance, and sue her to pay me....or can i sue her to make her pay to the clinic? i don't want to waste my time in the court if the judge will say i don't have a case because the balance is actually due to the clinic and not to me...??

 

[JETX]

First, I would like to congratulate you on your post. It was short, to the point without rambling and asked a valid question.

To answer:
The Small Claims court system is in place to hear simple claims of damages from individuals without the cost or ordeal of a higher court. As such, since you have not paid the unpaid portion, at this point you have not been damaged.

So, at this point, you really have two possible solutions:
1) Pay her portion and sue her for your 'damages'. This is not the preferred route since you would then be in the position of having to still collect on your judgment, and she could refuse to pay the bills for future expenses.

2) File a Motion for Contempt of Order with the family court. Since her payment was a part of the Court order, based on your post, she is in violation of the courts order.
The positives of this is that you wouldn't have to pursue recovery and she would certainly learn to pay in the future when she starts getting some 'county meals'.

 

[teejay]

thanks..follow up question..not sure this would change your answer...she says she's not paying the bills because she says i told her i would buy a coat for one of our daughters (which i didn't) so she bought it -therefore she is deducting from the med bill..as well as, deducting for printer cartridges she purchased for a computer she bought from me 2 years ago...she says i told her i would give her some printer cartridges for the computer (again i didn't), regardless, would her reasons hold up in small claims or in a contempt hearing? furthermore, i have never seen receipts for either of these that she says she purchased...i did find the coat she bought at a local store (exact coat) and the regular sales price was 16.00 cheaper than she is deducting. any suggestions?

 

[JETX]

Unless your support decree allows for her making unilateral decisions about deductions (doubtful), then she is still in contempt of the court order.