Retroactive Child Support - who pays maternity bills?

[BizyLizy]

Background:

In Texas.

Girl & guy dating for two years & is a tumultuous relationship. She finds out she is pregnant & he essentially ceased all contact with her once she tells him.

Girl has baby & accumulates over $1,600 in medical bills during pregnancy (high-risk pregnancy, complicated delivery, c-section, etc.)

She files for child support two weeks after baby is born.

Questions:

1. Who pays for the maternity bills?

2. Does Texas law allow for additional child support to help with the incredible expense of child care so that mom can return to work. Child care is $205 per week$820 per month / . Estimated child support (based on Texas guideline of 20% of NCP income) would only be $650 per month. This amount would not cover 1/2 of total monthly expenses for child.

[ocean]

Child support will be by the formula...
Daycare is on top of child support...usually split the cost in half but can be a percentage if there is a big difference in salaries..
Medical - also separate and by percentage. Many times it is 50/50 for out of pocket expenses

[awakenlynn]

While the support will be by formula, does the NCP have any other children?  You will need to check to see what variables the court will look at.  While daycare can be on top, it isn't always, alot will depend on the judge and the information he gets from both parties.

Lynn

[amymarie]

Okay I have experience with this, but in KY, not TX.  So you'll need to check with your state.

I filed for CS right after my baby was born.  I did it through Friend of the Court, which is basically a free paralegal/caseworker that will file the paperwork for you and that's it.

I of course didn't have my medical bills yet since I had just given birth.  They never said anything about medical bills (which they obviously knew I had them).

When we finally went to court 6 months later, I brought the medical bills with me.  However, all we did at court was talk to some clerk, sign off on the CS amount, and leave.  So I still didn't know what to do with the bills.

I finally called my caseworker and got ahold of her (which was really hard to do) to ask her about the bills and she said that since they were from before the court order that I could not submit them.  She told me to just ask my ex to pay them.  Apparently I was supposed to have turned them in with my original paperwork, but of course nobody told me that.  So even though my CS was retroactive to the day my daughter was born, the medical bills couldn't be submitted unless they were after the court date.

Well I knew my ex wasn't going to pay it if he didn't think he had to (he doesn't even see her), so I typed up a letter and sent it certified.  Basically it said that according to the CO, he was to pay half of all medical expenses, and his half was $X amount of dollars.  I told him that I would need to hear from him by X date with either the money or a reasonable payment plan or I would have to take legal action.  And I made copies of all of the bills.  Well it worked because he sent me checks over the next 3 months and paid it all off, no questions asked.

[gemini3]

Usually medical is for the child, not for the mother, unless otherwise stated in divorce or seperation paperwork.  Most support orders will state that the NCP has to carry insurance for the child and that out-of-pocket expenses will be split based on income.

For maternity medical, those fall under medical care for the mother, not the child. 

Day care is usually figured into the support order.  Look up the CS calculator for your state.

[ocean]

Daycare is added to child support in NY. If you are able to show the amount will be the same over the year you may be able to get it added right to child support that is deducted but usually you give the other parent the receipt and they pay you back their percentage. (or can pay the facility ) In NY it has to be a certified daycare center and not "grandma". You can also claim what you pay on your taxes.

[MixedBag]

Her insurance should pay for medical bills.

And if she has none, I think mom can and should have applied for medicaid/medicare (forgot which) to get that covered -- and I think they go back 3 months from the date of application to get bills paid.

Hope it's not too late for that.

And if dad proves to be the father, maybe his insurance will pick up some of the tab for the baby.

Babies do have bills too when they are born.  My OD had her stuff, and then the baby had some stuff too -- I remember because they were confused about paying two $500 deductibles and one was for the Mom and one for the Baby.

[Waylon]

We apologize for the posts by "blndchk1".

The posts have been removed and she's been given a short vacation (ban).