In Texas, when there is a divorce and children are involved, child support is expected to cover for all the child’s needs. This goes beyond a safe place to live and proper nutrition. It extends to medical and dental care. In many cases, a parent’s employer will have a plan that covers not just the employee but his or her children as well. In others, the parents get their coverage through insurance exchanges. No matter the arrangement, this insurance is essential for the child. Understanding how this is handled in a family law case is key.
What if there are issues with medical and dental insurance?
For parents who are ordered to have insurance coverage for their child’s medical and dental care, a challenge that frequently arises is if a parent experienced changes to their coverage or loses it entirely. Regardless of the perspective – the custodial parent or the noncustodial parent – arrangements must be made to find a sufficient replacement. If a parent had a job that provided coverage and they lost their job or the type of coverage they have through work has changed, then they might need to have a modification to the child support agreement.
A type of modification that can be granted could be ordering the noncustodial parent to pay for a portion of the new plan. The custodial parent who finds a plan that is appropriate based on the situation but requires a copayment or other financial outlay could ask that the noncustodial parent reimburse them. This would mean the agreement needs to be altered to reflect the different circumstances. The key factor to any child support order is caring for the child. Naturally, medical and dental care is fundamental to that and must be provided. Given the current state of the job market and how people are facing difficulties, it is not uncommon for this to be a worry. The state addresses it through modifying child support as needed.
Help may be needed with child support and medical and dental coverage
As with any area of family law, the case can range from relatively easy to navigate to extraordinarily complex. Some parents can come to a rational agreement and keep the child’s needs at the forefront. Others decline into discord with contentious disagreements back and forth. The most important part of any case is the child and with this complicated issue, it is imperative to have assistance with forging a new agreement or finding a workable solution.