School Supplies

[overit]

The court order reads, "The parties shall share medical, dental, ocular, orthodontia, pharmaceutical, and psychological expenses for their children as follows: The reasonable and necessary uncovered expenses shall be paid as follows: The father shall pay 56% and the Mother shall pay 44%."  There is NOTHING else about out-of-pocket expenses in the court order.

My non-custodial ex-wife took my son shopping for school supplies with no prior agreement from me to reimburse her for any portion of that expense.  She also bought him some new clothes.  She now says I am required to pay her back for 56% of that cost, since that's what she pays child support for.

Wouldn't these purchases qualify as a gift, or can I be ordered by the court to pay her back?  We're in Florida.

[socrateaser]

>The court order reads, "The parties shall share medical,
>dental, ocular, orthodontia, pharmaceutical, and psychological
>expenses for their children as follows: The reasonable and
>necessary uncovered expenses shall be paid as follows: The
>father shall pay 56% and the Mother shall pay 44%."  There is
>NOTHING else about out-of-pocket expenses in the court order.
>
>My non-custodial ex-wife took my son shopping for school
>supplies with no prior agreement from me to reimburse her for
>any portion of that expense.  She also bought him some new
>clothes.  She now says I am required to pay her back for 56%
>of that cost, since that's what she pays child support for.
>
>Wouldn't these purchases qualify as a gift, or can I be
>ordered by the court to pay her back?  We're in Florida.

School supplies are not reasonable healthcare expenses, which is the purpose of the text of the court order you have posted. School supplies are covered entirely by your child support obligation.

The other parent is wrong, and her purchases are a gift, absent some other enforceable agreement between her and you.

[overit]

Is it still a gift is She pays ME child support?

[socrateaser]

>Is it still a gift is She pays ME child support?

If the support obligor purchases items and provides them to the child, those items are either a gift or some voidable contract, because a minor child cannot be held liable for contract agreement, except for the necessities of life, or for the reasonable value of property actually used by the child; school supplies are not the necessities of life (food, shelter, clothing, urgent medical care).

The school supplies may not have been intended as a gift, and the obligor parent has the right to their return, based upon the mistaken belief that they were deductable from the support obligation.

I suggest that you ask the other parent whether she wants these supplies to be a gift, and if not, that you simply return them to her. If some items are already used, then pay her fair value for those items.

Then tell her to please not give the child anything in the future unless she intends it as a gift, except where the court order expressly requires a different outcome.

If the other parent continues to object, it's not your problem. Don't accept any future non-monetary property transfers for the child, unless they are expressly transferred with some writting (e.g., gift card) demonstrating that the property is intended as a gift.

[overit]

The court order reads, "The parties shall share medical, dental, ocular, orthodontia, pharmaceutical, and psychological expenses for their children as follows: The reasonable and necessary uncovered expenses shall be paid as follows: The father shall pay 56% and the Mother shall pay 44%."  There is NOTHING else about out-of-pocket expenses in the court order.

My non-custodial ex-wife took my son shopping for school supplies with no prior agreement from me to reimburse her for any portion of that expense.  She also bought him some new clothes.  She now says I am required to pay her back for 56% of that cost, since that's what she pays child support for.

Wouldn't these purchases qualify as a gift, or can I be ordered by the court to pay her back?  We're in Florida.

[socrateaser]

>The court order reads, "The parties shall share medical,
>dental, ocular, orthodontia, pharmaceutical, and psychological
>expenses for their children as follows: The reasonable and
>necessary uncovered expenses shall be paid as follows: The
>father shall pay 56% and the Mother shall pay 44%."  There is
>NOTHING else about out-of-pocket expenses in the court order.
>
>My non-custodial ex-wife took my son shopping for school
>supplies with no prior agreement from me to reimburse her for
>any portion of that expense.  She also bought him some new
>clothes.  She now says I am required to pay her back for 56%
>of that cost, since that's what she pays child support for.
>
>Wouldn't these purchases qualify as a gift, or can I be
>ordered by the court to pay her back?  We're in Florida.

School supplies are not reasonable healthcare expenses, which is the purpose of the text of the court order you have posted. School supplies are covered entirely by your child support obligation.

The other parent is wrong, and her purchases are a gift, absent some other enforceable agreement between her and you.

[overit]

Is it still a gift is She pays ME child support?

[socrateaser]

>Is it still a gift is She pays ME child support?

If the support obligor purchases items and provides them to the child, those items are either a gift or some voidable contract, because a minor child cannot be held liable for contract agreement, except for the necessities of life, or for the reasonable value of property actually used by the child; school supplies are not the necessities of life (food, shelter, clothing, urgent medical care).

The school supplies may not have been intended as a gift, and the obligor parent has the right to their return, based upon the mistaken belief that they were deductable from the support obligation.

I suggest that you ask the other parent whether she wants these supplies to be a gift, and if not, that you simply return them to her. If some items are already used, then pay her fair value for those items.

Then tell her to please not give the child anything in the future unless she intends it as a gift, except where the court order expressly requires a different outcome.

If the other parent continues to object, it's not your problem. Don't accept any future non-monetary property transfers for the child, unless they are expressly transferred with some writting (e.g., gift card) demonstrating that the property is intended as a gift.