Depending on how comprehensive your child support order is, you may have already taken into account medical expenses when determining a support amount, especially if your child has an ongoing or chronic medical issue. However, including medical expenses in a child support calculation is not generally the practice. And, depending on the situation, extraordinary medical expenses may have you looking to modify your current child support order.
Out-of-pocket medical expenses are generally considered separate from those traditionally covered by child support. While you may have an arrangement with your child’s other parent regarding your health insurance coverage and premium amounts, other expenses such as co-pays and deductibles are not always so easy to work out. If you carry the medical insurance on your child, and are struggling with mounting out-of-pocket medical expenses, you may benefit by working with an experienced family law attorney.
Although the family court will not likely modify child support for a momentary increase in out-of-pocket medical expenses, they may be more likely if the expenses are expected to continue. By working with an experienced family law lawyer, a child support modification may be made to take into account long-term and ongoing out-of-pocket medical expenses.
Child support is a court ordered obligation, and must be upheld until the family court says so. If you are finding it difficult to collect child support from your child’s other parent, or are trying to figure out a way to account for additional expenses related to your child, an attorney can help. With their resources and knowledge of family law, they may be able to request temporary orders for child support change or take steps to collect owed child support.