Bear with me through my little rant here....
I've been divorced for 10 years and have 2 teenage boys. The stipulation in our court order is that my ex carries health insurance for the boys and we split any expenses 50/50 that the insurance does not cover. This is to include any dental or orthodontic expenditures. Since the boys primarily reside with me, I'm the one to take them to the doctor's or dentist and pay, then expect to be reimbursed by the ex.
Things went okay until three years ago. My ex got remarried and divorced and the re-imbursement (primarily for dentist bills) stopped. He said he was strapped for money. I've sent him copies of all bills and a letter stating the running total he owes me.
Three months ago, my eldest son had his wisdom teeth removed and I sent the ex the rather large bill. He calls me last night saying he wants me to send him another copy because he can't find it. He's never been very organized or one to keep records, so I'm wondering why this bill is important to him.
Could it be that he has dental insurance for the boys that I don't know of and is sending the bills in (that I've paid) to collect the insurance? I only ask this because one time, about 4 years ago, my dentist hands me something from an insurance company that they said was sent to them by mistake. I don't have dental coverage, for myself nor my kids, and this paper referenced the "ex's" name.
Now I don't care if he has the coverage, but if he's profitting from money I'm paying out - I'm pi$$ed! Especially if he's not even bothering to reimburse me the half he owes me (his running total is about 3K right now).
I know I should take him to court to get the money he owes me, but that takes money for a lawyer. Right now I'm leaning on holding the bill he wants hostage until I get paid.
Any thoughts?
Diane
I've been divorced for 10 years and have 2 teenage boys. The stipulation in our court order is that my ex carries health insurance for the boys and we split any expenses 50/50 that the insurance does not cover. This is to include any dental or orthodontic expenditures. Since the boys primarily reside with me, I'm the one to take them to the doctor's or dentist and pay, then expect to be reimbursed by the ex.
Things went okay until three years ago. My ex got remarried and divorced and the re-imbursement (primarily for dentist bills) stopped. He said he was strapped for money. I've sent him copies of all bills and a letter stating the running total he owes me.
Three months ago, my eldest son had his wisdom teeth removed and I sent the ex the rather large bill. He calls me last night saying he wants me to send him another copy because he can't find it. He's never been very organized or one to keep records, so I'm wondering why this bill is important to him.
Could it be that he has dental insurance for the boys that I don't know of and is sending the bills in (that I've paid) to collect the insurance? I only ask this because one time, about 4 years ago, my dentist hands me something from an insurance company that they said was sent to them by mistake. I don't have dental coverage, for myself nor my kids, and this paper referenced the "ex's" name.
Now I don't care if he has the coverage, but if he's profitting from money I'm paying out - I'm pi$$ed! Especially if he's not even bothering to reimburse me the half he owes me (his running total is about 3K right now).
I know I should take him to court to get the money he owes me, but that takes money for a lawyer. Right now I'm leaning on holding the bill he wants hostage until I get paid.
Any thoughts?
Diane
