Category Archives: Divorce with Children

How do you split out of pocket medical costs for children of divorced parents in Wyoming?

Out of pocket medical costs are shared by the parents of divorced children in Wyoming.  Generally, these costs are split 50/50. However, more and more courts are splitting them based on the ratio of the income of the parents.

Ratio of parents’ incomes

Whenever a court enters a child support order, it also makes orders regarding medical support of the children.

The ratio is calculated by adding the parents’ net incomes, and then dividing each parent’s income by the total. The resulting fraction or percentage is how much of the the out of pocket costs the parent will pay.

The following example shows how this works:

Father’s income = $6,000 per month and Mother’s income = $2,000 per month, therefore the total joint income = $8,000 per month.

Father’s share is 6,000 divided by 8,000, which is 3/4, or 0.75, which is 75%.

Mother’s share is 2,000 divided by 8,000, which is 1/4, or 0.25, which is 25%

So in this example, if the parents’ child has a $20.00 prescription bill, then the Father would have to pay 75% of the bill, which is $15.00 ($20 x 0.75 = $15). Mother would have to pay 25% of the bill, which is $5.00 ($20 x 0.25 = $5).

Why not share the bills 50/50?

More and more courts are deciding to ratio the out of pocket costs because it seems to be more “fair.”

The above example with the $20 prescription co-pay does not really seem significant to raise the issue of fairness. We are only talking about $5.00, more or less.

However, lets look at those same parents paying for braces for one of their kids. (By the way, most Judges do not consider braces a luxury, and will order the parties to share that cost). Braces can easily cost $4,000.00 out of pocket, even with insurance coverage.

In that case, if the parents had to share $4,000 equally, then each parent would need to pay $2,000. That means that the braces would cost the Mother one month’s worth of income. The Father, on the other hand, would only be out one third of his month’s income. It would be a lot “easier” for Father to cover his share of the braces.

However, if each parent had to pay according to the ratio of their incomes, then Father would pay 75% of $4,000, which is $3,000, and Mother would pay 25% of $4,000, which is $1,000.

The kid’s braces would then cost each parent one half of a month of income. Therefore, it would be equally “easy” for each parent to cover the cost of braces.

Changing the cost sharing

Medical support orders are generally issued as part of child support orders.  Therefore, whenever a parent is in a position to ask for child support modification order, they could also ask to have the Court change its orders regarding the sharing of out of pocket medical costs.

Conclusion

Sharing out of pocket medical costs according to the ration of the parents’ incomes is becoming more common. This method seems more fair, and equalizes the financial burden on each parent.

By Steve Harton

Health insurance for children of divorced parents in Wyoming

Both of the divorced parents of a Wyoming child may be required to provide health insurance coverage.

Whenever a court enters a child support order, it is also required make orders regarding the medical support of those children.

Medical Support of Minor Children

Health insurance coverage is one part of medical support, and cash medical support is the other part. Medical support generally includes paying for medical, dental, optical and orthodontia expenses. It can also include other things, such as counseling, and occupational and physical therapy, if the child needs such care.

Health Insurance Coverage

Under Wyoming law, a Court shall require that “one (1) or both parents shall provide insurance coverage for the children if insurance can be obtained at a reasonable cost and the benefits under the insurance policy are accessible to the children.” Once again, this means health insurance coverage, and dental and vision coverage, at the very least.

The questions then become:

  1. What is “a reasonable cost” for health insurance?, and
  2. When are the benefits of the insurance policy “accessible” to the children?

Fortunately, the Wyoming legislature has defined both of those terms for use.

Reasonable Cost

Reasonable cost means the cost to provide health care coverage is no more than five percent (5%) of the providing party’s income (WS 20-2406(a)(xiii). This is 5% of gross income.  Before taxes, and other deductions.  Therefore, if you work forty hour weeks at $9/per hour (grossing $1,560 per month), and the insurance coverage for your children costs $78 per month or less, then you must buy that insurance coverage.

If both parents can obtain insurance coverage for a reasonable cost, then both parents will have to get insurance for the kids. The two insurance companies will figure out which will be the “primary” and which will be “secondary.” In either case, both parents will be better off, because with double coverage, there will be fewer out of pocket costs.

Accessibility

“Accessible” means the health care insurance plan is available and provides coverage for the child residing within the geographic area covered by the insurance plan.

This means that if you can buy insurance coverage through your employer for less than 5% of your income, but then you must buy the coverage.

It also means that you buy coverage through your new wife or husband’s employer your employer for less than 5% of your income,  then you must also buy the coverage.  However, if you work in Wyoming and your child lives in Hawaii, and your employer’s insurance provider only covers children that reside in Wyoming, then you do not have to buy the coverage.

Conclusion

There are several situations where both parents can be ordered to provided health insurance coverage for their minor child.

Therefore, if you can get health insurance coverage for your children at less than 5% of your gross income, then buy it.

By Steve Harton

Wyoming divorce with children

by Steve Harton

A divorce in Wyoming gets considerably more complicated, and usually more expensive, if there are minor children involved.  When a divorcing couple has minor children, the Complaint for Divorce must contain more information, the Stipulation and Agreement and the Divorce have more terms, and are therefore longer.  Finally, there are additional documents that have to prepared.

Minor Child Defined

Initially, we must define who is a minor child, in the context of a divorce.   Under Wyoming law, the following persons are minor children:

  1. Children under the age of eighteen, who has never been married, and who are not in the active military service of the United States,
  2. Children who are under the age of twenty (20) and attending high school or an equivalent program as full time participants
  3. Children who are mentally or physically disabled and thereby incapable of supporting themselves.

Furthermore, natural or adopted children are treated the same in a divorce proceeding, even if one spouse is a natural parent, and the spouse adopted the child.

Divorce Complaint with Minor Children

Whenever minor children are involved, the divorce complaint must contain additional information.  It must state the facts necessary to give the Court jurisdiction (or the power) to make a child custody decision.  Generally, this means that the children have lived in Wyoming for the previous six months.  There are other situations where the Wyoming divorce with childrenCourt may not exercise its jurisdiction over the children, such as pending court cases in Wyoming or other states involving the children.  Other situations like that may include cases where the children have guardians who are not their parents, or if there are current child neglect or child delinquency cases involving the children.

Therefore, a complaint for divorce must include a sworn statement that lists the following information:

  1. Where (county and state), and with whom (name and relationship) the minor children have lived during the past five years
  2. Whether there are any other court cases involving the minor children pending in any other state
  3. Whether or not anyone other than the divorcing couple has, or claims to have, custody of the minor children

In addition, the complaint should state who has custody of the children now, who should have custody of the minor children after the divorce, and who should pay child support.

Stipulation and Agreement for Divorce with Minor Children

The Stipulation and Agreement for Divorce is a document that is filed with the Court setting out the divorcing parties’ agreements regarding child custody, support and visitation.  Attorneys draft these so that the Divorce Decree does not have to include all the visitation (and detailed property division) terms.  The Stipulation includes who has custody, and the other parent’s visitation rights.  The standard terms in Wyoming are every other weekend, one weeknight each week from after school until about 8:00, alternating holidays (Christmas, New Year, Easter, Thanksgiving), and six weeks in the summer.  Most stipulations also set out special visits like mother’s/father’s days, family reunions, etc.  In addition, the Stipulation also specifies which parent will get the tax deductions.  In divorce cases where parties reach agreement, these are usually split or alternated, but the IRS default is that the custodial parent gets them.

Divorce Decree with Minor Children

The Decree of Divorce with minor children will include the names and dates of birth of the minor children. It will also generally grant joint legal custody of the children to the parents, but will grant primary physical custody of the children to either the mother or father.  The Decree will also specify the amount of child support to be paid, and award the tax credit to one of the parents.  The Decree generally references the Stipulation for the visitation terms, and does not include the specifics.

Income Withholding Order

Whenever the Court orders one party to pay child support, an Income Withholding Order must be entered.  This Order is signed by the Judge, and orders any employer of the non-custodial parent to withhold a portion of his/her income for child support.

Confidential Information Statement

Wyoming law requires that a proposed income withholding order be accompanied by a Confidential Information Statement.  This document contains the name, date of birth, state of birth, social security number, address, employer, and employer’s address of each parent.  In addition, it includes the name, date of birth, state of birth, social security number of each of the children.  This information is used by the courts and child support enforcement agencies to keep track of child support payments.

Notice to Payor

A Notice to Payor is a document that informs the employer of the non-custodial parent how much child support to withhold, and where to send that child support.  It will contain the address of the Clerk of District Court in which the divorce decree was entered, because under Wyoming law, all child support payments are required to be made through the Clerk of Court.

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By Steve Harton