Salt Lake City Child Support Attorneys
When our clients with children are divorcing or living separately, our attorneys work with them to understand their Utah child support rights and obligations. We welcome you to contact BartonWood to request a consultation if you have concerns about child support issues.
Utah Child Support Law
Utah law requires that both parents support their child. For this reason, like many other states, Utah has enacted Child Support Guidelines. These guidelines can be found at Utah Code Ann. §78B-12-201 through §78B-12-301. The State of Utah also has a web-based calculator to assist you in determining the amount of child support you owe or that is owed to you.
Daycare, Health Insurance, and Other Healthcare Costs
With regard to child support, however, there are a few things which may be confusing. Child support is not only a calculated monthly payment, it also encompasses the requirement that both parents equally pay the cost of their child’s work-related daycare, health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket healthcare costs.
How to Determine How Much Your Ex-Spouse Owes for Your Children's Health Insurance
With regard to health insurance premiums, Utah law provides that the parents pay their pro-rata share of the insurance premium. Therefore when determining what you owe, or what is owed to you, for your child’s health insurance, the following calculation should be made:
(total out-of-pocket cost for insurance) divided by (total number of people insured) x (number of children) divided by 2
For example, if you are the parent carrying insurance you start by combining the cost billed by your employer of your individual insurance and that of your children (if they are separately charged). Let’s say that your employer charges you $50.00 per month for you and $150.00 per month for your children. Consequently, your out-of-pocket costs for your family’s insurance each month is $200.00.
You then divide the two hundred dollars by the number of people you insure. So, if you have three children you would divide $200.00 by four (you plus three kids). Consequently, you pay $50.00 per person. Your ex-spouse is not required to pay your insurance, so you times the $50.00 by the number of children you have, in this case 3. So the cost of the children’s insurance is $150.00 which is equally divided by you and your spouse. In this case, your spouse owes you $75.00 per month for the children’s health insurance.
Billing an Ex-Spouse for Daycare and Healthcare Costs
Whether it is daycare costs, insurance costs, or out-of-pocket medical costs such as co-pays or deductibles, it is very important that you make sure that your ex-spouse is billed by you within 30 days of receiving the invoice for the daycare, medical insurance or out-of pocket expenses. It is also important that you have a paper trail of sending these bills to your ex. BartonWood recommends that, if possible, you send all invoices via email or via text messages and that you keep proof of the message. This will protect you from non-payment in the future.
Our Child Support Lawyers Can Help
Our Utah child support attorneys help parents from all kinds of families advocate for their rights and the needs of their children. Contact our Salt Lake City office if you need representation in a Utah child support matter or have questions about how we can help.