6 yrs down & 4 to go!! (venting)

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-22-2007
6 yrs down & 4 to go!! (venting)
2
Fri, 07-20-2007 - 11:14pm
Why, oh why do they insist on being such BEhinds?!! Early this year my ex decided to petition to reduce child support. He was expecting a 50% reduction and only got about 15%, so naturally he thinks that he's a total victim. He flat refuses to talk to me now, while that is not a bad thing theoretically, it does create problems concerning issues with the kids. Earlier this week daughter needed a Rx refill (seizure medicine for epilepsy). I go to the pharmacy after work to pick it up and was told that his Rx drug card was no longer valid. Nice! He told me in May that his employer was changing insurance companies but he never said when and I have never received replacement cards. Well, with the old plan I paid $30 for a refill, which is great b/c the regular price on that particular medicine is $390 a month. So anyway I try calling him to get the new insurance info. No answer - typical. Well, the pharmacy was only open for another hour and a half, so it was kinda important to get the stuff post haste. I ended up calling our daughter to call her dad (she's 19) to tell him to call the pharmacy and straighten the insurance out. He did, so I went back about an hour later and had to pay $130! Since he refuses to talk to me I had no way of knowing that the new plan has a deductible on it. With this refill and our son's refill that he needs now for a medical condition that I don't have the $130 for AND the other prescriptions from clear back to March that he hasn't paid me his portion of, he now owes me $226. I called him a couple of times to request reimbursement - no answer, no return call. I left him a voice mail and told him the amount and that I need for him to reimburse me because school is going to be starting pretty soon and I need to get school supplies AND get our daughter back to college and asked him nicely to call and let me know when to expect it. No return call. Nothing in the mail.
Our daughter was beaten up by her boyfriend in March. Thank God she is out of that now and pressed charges against the louse. She is starting to have flash backs and nightmares and badly needs counseling. Well, I made her an appointment for this coming Monday, but guess what they are going to need. You got it... insurance information that I still do not have. I am applying for assistance through the National Crime Victim's Compensation Board, and guess what is requested on the application. You got it... insurance information that I still do not have. Does this new insurance have a primary care physician? I don't know. Do you have to do prenotification before an appointment? I don't know. Does it even cover mental health claims? I don't know. What is the deductible? I don't know. I tried calling him this afternoon. No answer. So I resorted to sending him a text message explaining that I need the insurance information for daughter's counseling. No response whatsoever. I tried calling him again this evening. No answer. No return call. No return text. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!! What am I supposed to do??? I would love to be able to send every nickel of that child support back to him every month along with a swift kick in the ego since he thinks he is being such a knight in shining armor by paying support. But that would entail me getting a second job and leaving our son to raise himself.
I emailed my lawyer and asked what options there are in this situation but have not heard back yet. Has anyone else been in this infuriating situation?
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2005
Sat, 07-21-2007 - 1:31am

I have never received reimbursement for any medical expenses that I have incurred for my son. My ex is court ordered to pay half...I have presented the receipts to him and he just ignored them. My attorney told me I would have to go back to court with the proof of bills and proof that I submitted them to my ex in a timely manner and then get it reduced to a judgement so they could put a lein/garnishment on my ex for the money. However, since I never get child support anyway...my ex owes me over 40k...it hardly seems worth my time/money to try and sue for this. Just another judgement that he won't pay me on.

But I do believe that is your only recourse, save the paperwork and maybe you can throw it in the next time you go back to court. I would keep copies of all your correspondence with him regarding what he owes as well. (even record your voicemails - but email is probably best) You just don't want him claiming, "he didn't know anything about it..." -argh!

Good luck.

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-20-2007
Sun, 07-22-2007 - 12:25pm

You will have to fight him in court for the reimbursements, but if your divorce decree states that he will provide your kids with medical insurance and he won't give you the information you need, take your decree and go to his place of employment. They will be able to give you the phone number of the insurance company and then you can get info directly from them.