We do have joint legal, however in the area underneath where it says we have joint legal, there are boxes to check for decision making on different things, which include school, religion, non emergency health care, and extracuriculars. In this area, my name is checked in all of them as the decision maker. Underneath that it says:
OTHER: Should the Mother not consult with the Father on non-emergency healthcare and take the children for treatment with a provider who does not accept Tricare, the Father shall not be responsible for any non-covered expenses associated with said treatment. Should the Mother enroll in the children to participate in extracurricular activities without the consent of the Father, the Father’s visitation shall take precedence over said extracurricular activities.
Now, even though this place does take tricare, I still notified him as soon as I knew we were having the work done, which was in January, after we got his cleaning and saw that the cavities had continued to progress despite the treatment we had all ready done on them. I emailed him and let him know what was going on, including sending him a scan of the propsed treatment plan, including cost. I noted on the plan what insurance would pay, and what each of our parts would be. He did not respond.
In February, he asked me if I would be willing to let him claim an extra kid on taxes. This was my year to claim two, and his to claim one. He said that he wanted to do this in order to have money for summer visitation, and to help with the dentist bill. I went ahead and let him do it. So I would say that he was very aware that he owes the money, and frankly I think it sucks that he is now ignoring the fact that the bills are due.
He has a history of being hard to deal with. I try to keep him updated with what is going on with the kids, I send him pictures, scans of schoolwork occasionaly, scans of report cards. Most of the time, with no reply.