Insurance Premiums Deducted from Paycheck for Chidren's Health Care

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ross_toronto

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I am the payor of child and spousal support.

I have signed up for a special extra package at my work which I pay about $200 a month extra for (roughly).

At the moment because my ex receives child support (table amounts) she pays for all normal health care expenses, but she is able to take advantage of my special extra insurance for a large majority of them. The insurance also covers a portion of the section 7 expenses (wel. . . l it used to until we hit the cap).

It seems to me that if we have a 75/25 split on Section 7 expenses (which is defined in our agreement) that my ex-wife should contribute at least $50 a month to this premium. Is this reasonable? Or if it isn't reasonable is it commonly done?

She seems to think I should pay for all of the extra premiums and then we split the remainder of what is owing if it is "extraordinary".

She's receving a significant advantage from the $200 extra a month I am paying. . . shouldn't she have to share some of the cost?

I mean why am I bothering to pay for this extra premium if it only benefits her? It isn't really benefiting me any more as we've hit the cap on the insurance for the big ticket items. I don't want her to incur any undue extra costs, but I also don't want to be taken advantage of since I'm already paying big dollars for child and spousal support. Any thoughts on the matter? How is this normally handled?
 
I should clarify that the $200 is specifically for the children's portion of the health care. I pay some on top of that for my portion which I have no intention of ever asking her to pay for of course.
 
I just checked my minutes of settlement and I agreed to maintain medical and dental benefits for the children through my employer as long as such benefits are available.

Do that mean I'm out of luck? LOL.
 
Did you seek her consent prior to incurring the expense? section 7 expenses need to be agreed to in order to seek payment from the other party.
 
That's a good point as well. . . it wasn't anything either of us thought of when we were with the lawyers, so no.

However, the agreement does state I am to "maintain" health and dental insurance for the children so I'm guessing this one might be on me.

Man, the monthly expenses just keep going up and up and there doesn't seem to be any relief. . . You think you are pretty much already broke with child support and spousal and then insurance and section 7 hit you up for another $700-800 a month!
 
ross_toronto said:
I mean why am I bothering to pay for this extra premium if it only benefits her?
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It sounds to me like it's been a big benefit to the kids, especially if you've used it to the max. If you weren't paying that $200 extra every month, how much a month would you have had to pay to cover the cost of the medical expenses that wouldn't be covered?

Just my Pollyanna way of looking at it.
 
Health insurance premiums are specifically identified as section 7 expenses in legislation. I'd just deduct her share (accrued since the last claim) from whatever reimbursements you receive from the plan.
 
Hmm. . . you have a point.

I see it clearly listed in this page:

Step 7: dealing with special expenses - The Federal Child Support Guidelines: Step-by-Step

Here's the relevant line. . .

Special expenses are:

  • child-care expenses that a parent with whom the child lives incurs as a result of the parent's job, illness, disability or educational requirements for employment,
  • the portion of a parent's medical and dental insurance premiums that provides coverage for the child,
    [*]    the child's health-care needs over and above that covered by insurance (for example, orthodontics, counselling, medication, eye care and other items) that exceed $100 per year,
  • the child's extraordinary expenses for extracurricular activities,
  • the child's extraordinary expenses for primary and secondary education or other educational programs, and,
  • the child's expenses for post-secondary education.
 
As already stated, medical/dental insurance premiums directly related to the child, are a section 7 expense. Technically, you both should be splitting this cost, according to your section 7 split. It's just like daycare. Already accounted for, in the Ontario (assuming you are in Ontario) family law rules.



I would argue, your order, simply states that you are to continue to have children enrolled in health/dental plan, if that is available to you. (ie. You can't drop their coverage). It doesn't mean, that you are expected to carry the whole costs associated with that, unless that is specifically written into your order.


What kind of "extra/special" coverage is this, that costs so much per month, especially, if its through your employer? What does it cover extra, over ordinary benefits? That seems really steep. If you're hitting caps in that coverage now, it sounds like you are making use of it though.
 
dad2bandm said:
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What kind of "extra/special" coverage is this, that costs so much per month, especially, if its through your employer? What does it cover extra, over ordinary benefits? That seems really steep. If you're hitting caps in that coverage now, it sounds like you are making use of it though.
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Adding to my question - I think the big thing is, why is this extra coverage necessary, over your normal or base health coverage for the children?

If you were to go to court for this, I think that question would be asked, if you were seeking to have this extra cost split for section 7.

I think you could reasonably argue, that if this "extra" coverage is covering costs for you, well in excess, of what you have to pay for it (because your basic health care doesn't cover those expenses), for the children, that a judge would deem it a necessary section 7 expense then (to be split).
 
There is a cost/benefit question to be asked here. Is $50 a month worth the hassles? I know it is on top of what you pay already, but it isn't a huge amount.

As an aside, do you have regular coverage for your kids offered by your work? If you do, I would argue that the regular coverage is all that is required, and anything further is above and beyond the terms of the agreement, thus are s7 expenses.

I don't agree that you say your ex is receiving a significant advantage. More accurately it is your kids you benefit from the premium insurance by having benefits that would not be otherwise available. Yeah, your ex may not being contributing to the expense, but if you didn't have it, would your kids be receiving the same care, and if they would, how would that cost you?
 
The extra coverage has come in quite handy for orthodontic bills and such. I regret suggesting that it has only benefited my ex. That obviously is not the case and I don't even know why I wrote that... where this divorce comes in I take leave of my senses sometimes. I have also gotten a benefit from it and it is for the children.
 
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