Liable for Cosmetic Procedures on 18 year old?

[BellaW]

Divorced in NM, Daughter in NM - we live in CA

We just received a bill from a dentist in NM (the state my husband's daughter lives in) for cosmetic tooth bleaching and sanding. The girl's mom said she was giving this to her 18 y.o as a gift.

My husband and I have never taken her to this dentist, nor signed any papers saying we would be liable for costs not insured, however daughter is on our policy, and our insurer has paid for covered health and dental expenses before. We are not certain if the mother or the daughter filled out registration info with our name. We received the bill, hand addressed, so we know at minimum someone provided our name and new California address.

We have always split unreimbursed costs 50/50 w/ mom; however after age 18 we instituted a large allowance (hundreds of dollars per month) directly to the girl in college which was intended to cover "our portion" of misc. expenses. We told said mother and daughter upon inception of the allowance we were no longer accepting "billing statements for half this and half that"

Are we liable for this Cosmetic Procedure or for that matter, half of any other unpaid medical dental expenses - cosmetic or otherwise - post age of majority, or is her mother barking up the wrong tree?

Thanks for any help you can give!

Bella

PS My husband has paid this woman $300 MORE than the divorce decree stated every month for the past 3-4 years.

Mom is now threatening to "compile and bill" us for "5 years of unpaid medical copays" pre- 18 - She has never provided us any receipts, and we have always paid half of whatever she has sent over the years which has included numerous medical claims. Is this just retaliatory, and does she have any legitimate claim?

 

[LdiJ]

PS My husband has paid this woman $300 MORE than the divorce decree stated every month for the past 3-4 years.

Depending on how long its been since the original child support order was issued...your husband might have gotten a "deal"...if he paid 300.00 a month more than the divorce decree stated. Child support normally increases as income increases....therefore if mom didn't file for a modification there is a chance that your husband could have had to pay MORE than the 300.00 a month he voluntarily paid.

Mom is now threatening to "compile and bill" us for "5 years of unpaid medical copays" pre- 18 - She has never provided us any receipts, and we have always paid half of whatever she has sent over the years which has included numerous medical claims. Is this just retaliatory, and does she have any legitimate claim?

It depends on whether or not you are talking about a legitimate claim legally, or a legitimate claim morally.

Legally, there is a slight chance that she could hold him responsible for unpaid medical copays over the last 5 years.....Slight because she waited so long to raise the issue. However, technically he WAS obligated to pay 1/2 of those costs There is virtually no chance that she could hold him responsible for a share of purely cosmetic dentistry.

 

[BellaW]

Thanks LdiJ for your help -

Incidentally he has made incrementally LESS each year than the year previous since the time of the judgment (I guess that's just how it goes sometimes) - mom's income has gone UP.

Do you suppose that if it were taken to court that some of the $300 surplus per month would be credited toward these old copays? We would be shocked if after the $300 per month extra, all of the bills he already split, and the other bills he absorbed 100%, that any judge would find for her.

Heck - we are shocked that she has the gall to tell the dentist to directly bill us for 1/2 of a cosmetic procedure we said we would not participate in.

 

[LdiJ]

Thanks LdiJ for your help -

Incidentally he has made incrementally LESS each year than the year previous since the time of the judgment (I guess that's just how it goes sometimes) - mom's income has gone UP.

Do you suppose that if it were taken to court that some of the $300 surplus per month would be credited toward these old copays? We would be shocked if after the $300 per month extra, all of the bills he already split, and the other bills he absorbed 100%, that any judge would find for her.

Heck - we are shocked that she has the gall to tell the dentist to directly bill us for 1/2 of a cosmetic procedure we said we would not participate in.

Like I said...the chances of a judge ordering him to pay 1/2 of copays that she never presented to him are really very slight.

As far as the dentist for the cosmetic proceedures is concerned...inform the dentist that your husband did not authorize or accept any contract for any proceedure...and that he does not accept responsibilty for the bill.

 

[BellaW]

Like I said...the chances of a judge ordering him to pay 1/2 of copays that she never presented to him are really very slight.

As far as the dentist for the cosmetic proceedures is concerned...inform the dentist that your husband did not authorize or accept any contract for any proceedure...and that he does not accept responsibilty for the bill.

Aha - Thank you very very much! We feared perhaps having an insurance card on our policy somehow gave the daughter the right to act as an "agent" with regard to health matters.

We will do EXACTLY as you recommend. Thank you again!