Child Support - Health Insurance Adjustments in Colorado

Healthcare adjustments to Child Support

According to Colorado law, medical insurance for the child is a crucial aspect of parental responsibilities. During a divorce, the court ensures that the health of the children is taken care of by allocating responsibility to both parents for the purpose of providing insurance. This includes dental insurance. The health care costs are over and above the standard child support costs that one spouse is liable to pay the other.

A Colorado Springs divorce lawyer will be able to help you accurately determine the amount of health insurance that is payable. However, here are a few guidelines that will help you arrive at a rough estimate.

Basic guidelines for child healthcare costs

It's important to start off by noting that these expenses cannot be greater than those incurred by a professional care provider. Additionally, if the health insurance premiums added to the basic support obligations is greater than twenty percent of one parent's income, the court might determine that it's not necessary to add the child onto the insurance policy. However, it must be purchased as soon as health insurance becomes reasonably priced.

Both parents are required to contribute to medical insurance for the children in proportion to their incomes. When one parent makes a request for coverage payments from the other, he or she must provide proof of coverage as well as the costs incurred. This must be submitted annually both to the court as well as to the spouse.

When it's not possible to give the exact amount of health insurance premiums pertaining to the child (say it's part of an existing plan), the figure is arrived at by taking the total premium amount and dividing it by the number of persons covered. This is multiplied by the number of children to give the total amount of medical insurance for the child or children.

Finally, the parents are also responsible for what are called "extraordinary expenses" including co-payments and deductibles which exceed $250 a year. Any other medical expenses including those related to chronic conditions are taken into consideration as well.

Consult a Colorado Springs divorce lawyer

It's very important to get the advice of a competent divorce lawyer when it comes to computing child support payments. This is because an experienced attorney will be able to make use of various provisions in the law that can work to your benefit and present the documentation in a concise and cogent manner. Contact our Clawson & Clawson attorneys for a free initial consultation.