Filing contempt pro se for medical expenses and a few other q's

[catherine]

DH is CP.  CO states that BM will pay 40% of all uninsured medical, within 10 days of notice of bills.  CO also states that DH will carry medical on the children and it's her option to have additional coverage, 100% at her expense.  That was decided because of her employment history being sporadic and wanting to make sure the kids are covered at all times.

She hasn't paid in well over two years and is roughly $8000 behind in CS as well.  She owes an additional $300 for her portion of uncovered medical fees.  We have sent her 2 certified letters with bills attached which were returned (she never picked them up).  CSE is handling the child support case but since I provide coverage, CSE does not really represent the medical portion of the order.

She moved 6 months ago to another State, which has temporarily screwed up the arrearages case.  FL has jurisdiction but is waivering on whether to move the arrearages to the VA courts (where BM lives now and we live in FL).  

As a sidenote, BM's license was suspended in FL for nonpayment a year ago but she managed to get a VA or NC license.  BM also missed a contempt hearing in FL for CS in September, a warrant was issued but after she informed CSE of her new address and employer in VA, they dropped the warrant simply because she no longer lives in FL.  After 6 months of nonpayment, we started receiving CS two weeks ago.  Not sure if you are aware of interstate CS and medical issues but here are my questions:

1) we are in the process of updating and preparing the portion of her medical bills and going to send it again.  If she sees it with a from OUR address, she most likely will not pick it up again.  If we send the bills just as Delivery Confirmation, will that be enough for the court to accept that she was properly notified in a contempt hearing?

2) As far as the contempt hearing she was a no show for, as you are aware in a civil contempt procedure, the address she has verified on record (or CSE has verified) is sufficient to avoid having her served by a process server.  Would we have to serve her the motion for comtempt via a process server, or Delivery Confirmation/Certified via USPS?

3) Do you think VA will take the arrearages case?  If so, I was told that they will follow FL's process and suspend her license and address the contempt hearing she missed.  Is that true?  

3a) It is possible that her license was obtained in NC because when she first moved, she was living with friends in NC on the border of VA.  If that is the case, is there anything that can be done?

I am concerned about her not paying her portion of medical fees because my OSS needs braces sometime this year.  They are so expensive, she would owe us roughly an additional $50 a month for a few years if we can find a decent payment plan.  It's time really to make her pay the piper so to speak, or we will be stuck with those enormous bills as well.

[socrateaser]

>here are my questions:
>
>1) we are in the process of updating and preparing the portion
>of her medical bills and going to send it again.  If she sees
>it with a from OUR address, she most likely will not pick it
>up again.  If we send the bills just as Delivery Confirmation,
>will that be enough for the court to accept that she was
>properly notified in a contempt hearing?

Any proof of delivery is better than no proof. The other parent has a legal duty to keep you apprised of her contact info, so your inability to deliver actually proves contempt on this issue, even if it fails to prove notice of the medical bills. Sort of a catch-22 on the other parent.

>2) As far as the contempt hearing she was a no show for, as
>you are aware in a civil contempt procedure, the address she
>has verified on record (or CSE has verified) is sufficient to
>avoid having her served by a process server.  Would we have to
>serve her the motion for comtempt via a process server, or
>Delivery Confirmation/Certified via USPS?

Contempt proceeding requires "personal" service (process server or sheriff) to comport with constitutional due process reasonably calculated under all the circumstances to apprise the defendant of a legal action pending and to provide a meaningful opportunity for defendant to appear and defend.

>3) Do you think VA will take the arrearages case?  If so, I
>was told that they will follow FL's process and suspend her
>license and address the contempt hearing she missed.  Is that
>true?  

Probably -- it's cheap money because VA gets 15 cents from the feds for every dollar it collects. That's how VA pays for its collection program.

>
>3a) It is possible that her license was obtained in NC because
>when she first moved, she was living with friends in NC on the
>border of VA.  If that is the case, is there anything that can
>be done?

If she's stoped for a traffic violation in VA, she will be cited for not having a VA license while being a resident. Other than that, until you get her into a VA court and ask the judge to order her to relinquish her NC license, you're probably SOL.

>I am concerned about her not paying her portion of medical
>fees because my OSS needs braces sometime this year.  They are
>so expensive, she would owe us roughly an additional $50 a
>month for a few years if we can find a decent payment plan.
>It's time really to make her pay the piper so to speak, or we
>will be stuck with those enormous bills as well.

Until the national criminal warrant database has a felony listed, no local law enforcement will arrest, and the governor of VA will certainly not extradite.

So, my candid advice is that you wait until the provable arrears exceeds $10,000. At that point, failure to pay becomes a federal felony offense, and you file a complaint with your county prosecutor and ask that she be extridited back to FL to stand trial. You could also file a complaint with the VA county prosecutor where the other parent lives, now, assuming that VA treats the issue as a serious misdemeanor or felony. But, if you file for contempt, and she shows up, and you lose the case, then the DA in the State where the contempt is prosecuted can't prosecute later, because that is double jeopardy and prohibited under the U.S. Constitution.

Legally, you have the right to complain to the U.S. Attorney office, once the $10K limit is reached, and then you could have her prosecuted in Federal court. But, the U.S. Attorneys are busy going after invisible terroists, so they will almost always refuse to prosecute something as trivial (intentional sarcasm) as child support arrears, and send you back to the local county attorney.

You could also hire a bounty hunter to bring her back to FL once you have a warrant issued for her arrest. But, that will cost you as much as you're owed, so it won't be productive.