What about all of those bills my ex won’t reimburse me for?

So you have an order that provides each of you are to pay half of uncovered medical bills, co-pays, extracurricular activities, school supplies, college expenses, etc. but your former spouse doesn’t pay. What do you do? Here are some basic tips to get you started.

1. Ask for payment early. Oftentimes I have clients that have stacks of bills piling up over many months before they ever request reimbursement from their former spouse. The short of it is, you can’t do that. You need to ask for reimbursement early, as soon as the expense was incurred.
2. Provide receipts: You have to provide receipts for expenses that you want to be reimbursed for.
3. Provide proof of payment: You have to show that you already paid the full expense of the bill or that you paid your half or are making arrangements to make payments on your half.
4. Request reimbursement repeatedly: Judges like to see repeated requests for reimbursement in writing. This means including the bills, receipts, and proof of payment multiple times.
5. Talk to your former spouse. Even though you send written requests for reimbursement by email you also need to phone your spouse and request reimbursement verbally.

If you have taken all of these steps then you have built a successful case for enforcement or contempt. At this point call your lawyer.