In Tennessee Child Support Cases, Which Parent Pays for Uninsured Expenses for the Child?

The basic structure of child support in Tennessee is that the primary residential parent (the one who has the child for 50 percent or more of the time) receives child support payments from the non-residential parent. The Tennessee courts use what is called an income shares model to determine the amount of child support payments, which takes many factors into consideration such as:

• Parents’ income
• How many other children the parent is supporting
• Number of days the child spends with each parent

Additional expenses include health insurance and any other ongoing medical costs for the child and child care expenses. These and other factors are put into the Tennessee Child Support Calculator to determine the amount of child support to be paid.

If a medical expense is a regular, recurring amount, it can be factored in to the child support obligation, but there are always those additional expenses that are not covered by insurance and may not be included in the Basic Child Support Obligation. Examples of these types of expenses include:

• Insurance deductibles
• Dental
• Orthodontic
• Vision and hearing
• Psychiatry or counseling
• Any other uninsured medical expense

Customarily, the primary residential parent will pay these expenses as they are incurred, but they can begin to add up. The parent who is paying these additional medical expenses should be careful to save receipts and copies of bills so that they can show proof that they have paid them. Under the Tennessee Child Support guidelines, each parent would contribute to the cost of these expenses according to the income shares model. The parent with higher earnings would pay a higher percentage of these costs.

If you have a child who has a chronic medical condition and these types of out-of-pocket medical expenses are not going to go away, you might discuss the option of having the child support order modified to take these expenses into consideration. In cases where there is not an amicable relationship between the co-parents, it can put the primary residential parent in the awkward position of asking the other parent for help in covering those expenses. They would then have to wait until the other parent was forthcoming with the money.

If the other parent refuses to contribute their share of unreimbursed medical expenses, the primary residential parent can work with their attorney to initiate enforcement actions if a reasonable amount of time has passed.

The Tennessee child support guidelines can be confusing. If you are preparing for divorce and you have questions about child support and how it is calculated, or any other question about divorce, contact an experienced Knoxville family law attorney to schedule a consultation. Call LaFevor & Slaughter today at 865-637-6258, or fill out our contact form to learn more.