Q: Does my ex-husband owe me for health insurance in the past if I made an error in what I told him was due?
My ex-husband and I have a court order to split kids expenses including healthcare. I pay for the healthcare from my job that I started in January 2019. He has been paying me $150 a month since I started the job. About six months ago I realized that I made an error in what I told him and instead of splitting $150 a month it is actually splitting $150 PER PAY that he owes me and therefore it should be $300 a month that we are splitting. Therefore for the last 3 years he has only been paying 1/4 of the healthcare and I have been paying 3/4. It is my error becasue I give him a total amount of kids expenses each month to pay 1/2 of. I asked him to pay the amount owed and he said no it’s not his fault I made the error 3 years ago. The amount is almost $3000. Is he responsible for this amount?
A: Your have the option to file for contempt of the court order if your kids health insurance was not paid in full and your kids' father refuses to pay the difference. Some sort of evidence that your ex should have known of the cost might be helpful. Your ex may claim a defense in that it was your mistake and he should not have to pay significant back funds when he was paying pursuant to what you told him of the cost. Another consideration is the cost benefit analysis of taking any further steps in filing contempt. Over the course of 3 years $3000 is a difference of $83.33 per month ($3000/36). The cost of litigation and court costs to litigate the $3000 of expenses which you may or may not be awarded in the end depending on the evidence might not be worth the hassle. While a motion for contempt can include a request for the offending party to pay attorney fees, they are not always awarded as it is a case by case basis given the circumstances.
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