In my divorce contract it says my ex is supposed to carry the health insurance for the children which he has been. He just got remarried a couple months ago and decided to change to his wife’s insurance and put the kids with her. She has medical and dental separate and he tells me now that she is refusing to give her personal information to my children dentist where they’ve gone since for the last 4 years. I spoke with my HR and they said if she drops them I can take them on my plan. So I tell my ex this and he is refusing that I put them on my plan because “our contract” says he is responsible. Am I in the wrong here? Divorce Contract or not couldn’t I take them? He was very upset that I even suggest it… I don’t get it. Any advice is helpful. Do I have any options here?
Help a mama out and respond anonymously on our forum. What are my options with getting insurance for my kids?
I’m pretty sure they have to provide their insurance information. But have you asked his wife to go do the paperwork herself since she doesn’t seem to want you to have the information
If he isn’t covering them because his wife is being some kind of way…. Screw the contract and cover your kids. Tell him to take you to court. No damned judge is going to penalize you for being the adult in the situation and covering your children on your insurance plan. The judge May on the other other hand have some serious harsh words and penalties for him….he could end up being required to pay you back the difference you’ve paid out. That’s probably what he’s afraid of. The wife has to provide you with the insurance information so that you can take your children to doctors appointments. This is petty and insane. He needs to grow a set and call the dentist and doctor and just provide the information himself. It’s his problem to deal with his wife. Wow.
You can put them on your insurance too. They can be covered by both. She either needs to give up the information so they can see the doctor or she needs to call and give it to them herself. These are her damn bonus kids for crying out loud.
No court is gonna make your kids switch primary care people to satisfy his control tactic
Not to pick at straws but by being on his new wifes insurance, does it count as him providing insirance coverage or her? It could be argued that he has already violated the agreement you have. However im not sure how it works where you are and whether or not it just needs to be insurance within his household. Either way, withholding insurance that was previously covered could be considered a breach of contract as well.
Might want to remind your ex to remind his new wife that the contract states he is responsible for carrying the insurance and since he is in her plan, she needs to give the information to the providers. Or have your husband give them the information since he is also on the insurance.
If she’s refusing to give the info to the dentist office than he’s not providing what he needs to provide and is in contempt so yes go ahead and put them on your plan and keep record of it for later in case he tries to use it against you. If he said she refused in text messages than print that out for proof too.
Contemp if he doesn’t provide is all you can do and tell judge about new wife’s statement
If she wont be helpful thats his problem. They have to have coverage. Take him to court dor violating the order.
Yes, get the kids on your insurance. Regardless of If he may or may not take care of their Healthcare. Gotta make sure babies are covered no matter what.
I know in VA is father is ordered to provide HC then he has to do just that…. No the new spouse anyone so HES in the wrong but if you put them on yours then really there isn’t anything anyone can do!! If he files and take you back to court over that he’s just making himself look stupid!! Just put them on yours an call it a day keep them with the same providers and move on! Not to sound rude but he wants control and apparently so does the new spouse!!
He’d better straighten this out otherwise the court might make him pay for private insurance for your children out of his own pocket and those rates will be huge!.
It states in my decree he is supposed to hold insurance but never has. I always have
It’s on him…if it’s in the divorce decree HE is responsible…either he buys a policy or new girly grows up
A couple of things - due to HIPAA, the insurance companies assign an alternate ID for the insurance card.
The insurance card doesn’t have much information on it, just the member ID, group ID and insurance billing address, customer service number ect…
Also, during open enrollment, or any qualifying event you can put your kids on your insurance.
Call your lawyer. That’s what you paid him for. Don’t let them push you around.
He’s mad at the wrong person. He can take out his own policy for the kids without his wife. And you don’t need his permission to add them to yours.
Legally you will need to petition the court to change that part of your parenting plan. This will go 1 of 2 ways. 1 they will grant the petition and allow you to put them on your insurance or 2 they will force her to comply with the children’s healthcare providers as long as they are covered by her insurance or they will make him carry a separate insurance on the kids if he is determined to keep that responsibility.
So if she keeps them on their insurance you’d still need her insurance information since they’d be primary. But you can carry secondary although it’s kinda useless when they cannot bill the secondary without the primary information. I’d say he’d need to figure it out or file contempt with the court
My ex was court ordered to carry insurance, never did, I did. If both parents provide the coverage, one policy is the primary one, the other secondary. You can use your insurance, they can use theirs. Insurance company never questioned it. Just have your own policy for peace of mind.
You can put your kids on your dental insurance if you want to. If your ex has coverage, that’s fine the kids will just be double covered. Basically file both insurance and let the insurance companies figure out which one is primary.
Tell him to grow a pair, get the information, and give it to your dentist.
You need to have insurance cards. More than likely you are going to be the one that is bringing them to the doctor. I’m pretty sure he legally has to give you cards for the kids.
something is off with this. She can’t insure children that are not her dependents. I have a feeling she isn’t insuring them, he’s lying. Call it out in court.
take them, send the bill to him. Let him and wifey sort it out
If he won’t, he has to pay the cost out of pocket?
Put your kids on yours and have your ex husband pay you for coverage etc. Keep records
Go back to court and have it changed it’s only way for you to take them under your insurance
I’m in dental insurance and if he is court ordered to cover then either he or his new wife has to provide coverage or its a violation. You could get coverage too but it wont pay until it has what is supposed to be primary explanation of benefits.
He is responsible so yes take it to court
Call your lawyer, just because it’s in the divorce, you want to be sure!!
She has to legally give you a copy of the insurance card. She can’t withhold that.
She would have to supply her insurance with the divorce papers and birth certificates at least in my state to cover them. It would seem she doesn’t have insurance.
He is in contempt, he dropped his insurance and now the insurance he is on, his wife is refusing to handover that info. Bottom line, he is in contempt!
I know in some states they will allow both parents to have insurance for the children
What a dead-beat dad and his new wife are to withhold pertinent info for health care of his children!
I don’t understand she won’t give the insurance info to their dentist? Wouldn’t it just be their policy #? that’s weird. I would take him to court for contempt I guess. I don’t understand what the new wife thinks they are getting for information
What state because some states allow primary by one parent secondary by second parent …
If its available on your insurance i would add them. He can either repay you the cost or get the insurance himself
Here in Ohio it doesn’t matter. You can each have coverage for them. I have coverage on my step son with nothing more than a ssn for him.
Call your lawyer and have him send a letter
Step mom eather plays ball or dad has too. Tell them you can and will take them to court.
He’s in contempt. You have legal access to their health insurance info. You need it. God forbid your kid gets seriously sick or injured and he wants to be petty.
You can pull a secondary insurance, get double coverage. Then you wouldn’t need to bother. It may be a lot cheaper for both parties.
It should also state in that decree any information for insurance needed or other documents pertaining to their medical. It’s definitely contempt & I would reach out to an attorney.
Add them to yours file the bill with the Ag and they will add to his Child Support problem solved
You could. But he probably will owe you more money that way and he probably doesn’t want to pay it.
He has to pay more in child support to help cover health insurance if you’re paying for it, per state laws.
Sounds like he needs to grow a pair where his new wife is concerned.
Take him back to court if he refuses to give you the insurance information.
Take him back to court
If you choose to carry them and the court ordered him to provide coverage, there is no wrong doing on your behalf to have dual coverage.
They are in violation for not providing coverage information for your children’s dentist. Maybe there’s a miscommunication on information needed.
However, your HR, might require the termination of coverage (HIPPA qualifying event) in order to add your kids outside of open enrollment period.
Report it to the courts
In Ca, if they’re married, he CAN move them over to her insurance. AND, if she guits her job, good luck getting the courts to make him put insurance back on them.
Been there, done that exact scenario.
i agree with everyone saying “take them to court.”
she doesn’t want to play by the rules, knowing pretty much everything since she married your ex… its time for new rules!
no one should do that to anyone especially with kids involved.
court court court mama
Actually it’s a contact that HE keeps them on HIS insurance. I’d get an attorney but it’s pretty much a null and void on him because he dropped the contract when he went on hers.
File a complaint online with the foc , don’t argue with the ex or the party involved. Do what’s required by The Court. Don’t stress yourself out. It’s only as difficult as you make it. You have orders. If something comes up pay for it , copy the receipt and send it to foc.
Can’t u have 2 insurance
I would take him back to court and tell them that his new wife is interfering with the court ordered insurance from their father.
My ex husband and I never depended on court or documents, we made sure OUR children were taken care of no matter what the situation, if one didn’t cover the other did because you don’t know what could happen future wise. Situations change. As long as the kids are covered cover them, it’s both yalls responsibility. Sometimes you got to cover the other cause don’t think in the future the shoe could be on the other foot. Kids need more responsible parents not courts n documents.
I’ve never been thru a divorce, however, I’m still 1000% sure that’s not how that works. Regardless of how new wife feels, you have every legal right to any info on an insurance policy that YOUR kids are on. You have to know those things to get them the type of care they need. Whether it be dental, or medical. God forbid your kid breaks their arm on the playground, or something. Is new wife going to drop what she’s doing, drive up to the hospital and give the clerks the info that they need?? Probably not. There are insurance companies that are specifically meant for situations like this. There are even plans within insurance companies specifically for circumstances like divorce. So the child always has insurance. I’d contact my attorney and let them know what’s going on. Then, I’d contact his attorney. After, I’d contact the mediator at the courthouse.
HE is responsible not his new wife so let him know either he get their plans back or he is in breach of the contract…
Then he is in CONTEMPT of “your contract” and the courts will hold him accountable. Maybe mention that and see if he’ll budge. But honestly better to just go through the courts when it comes to a new wife. Truuuust meeeee. 
File contempt and take him back to court. Yes, if she drops them you can get them onto yours. Just know you will need a letter from her insurance stating their loss of coverage and the date it was effective. You have I think 30 days (confirm with your insurance) to then add them to yours. Dual coverage is not an option UNLESS it is open enrollment for yours or you’re starting a new job and adding them but this can cause a lot of billing confusion and take some time to sort out. You have options all unfortunately just take time. In the meantime you can take them and pay cash keeping receipts for reimbursement requests once back in court. Cash payments typically cost much less then with insurance.
He would be in contempt of court, you can take him back to court and he would have to pay you for some of the dental and health if you provide it. I had to do it with my ex husband
I was in the same situation when my husband and I divorced. I put our son on my insurance at work and had HR give me a letter stating what the premiums were just for our son and my husband reimbursed me each month. I worked in HR before and handled insurance, maybe he can have the kids put on his plan and not need the stepmom’s info. If she doesn’t want to give her info to the kids, why doesn’t she give it directly to their doctor and dentist?
If the kids can’t use the insurance, then they really don’t have any.
Yes put them on yours and it’s contempt with court order on his end most likely he don’t want you to do it because he will then have to pay half medical expenses
If it is court ordered that he has the children on his employer insurance and it’s offered. He must have it with his employer regardless of his new spouse. Just because of situations like this. I went through the same thing with my court orders. I was unsuccessful.
If you’ve explained the problem to your husband, and he doesn’t handle it, then delegate these appointments to him.
But the kids should have insurance cards, so I’m unclear what the problem is, unless the dental office is demanding her SSN.
Do what you have to do. If he is “under contract”and she won’t do it then your only option is for you to put them in your plan. He can pay you what you have to pay and then it’s still “under contract”
You can go to court and ask for a renegotiation of the contract concerning health insurance I don’t know what state you live in but if your husband’s upset it’s more than likely because if he no longer pays the insurance then he will have to pay child support or if he’s already paying child support it will go up because you are now paying the insurance instead of him I would definitely talk to a lawyer about renegotiation of your contract concerning the health insurance and see what they tell you
Dad should’ve never switched 
She needs to cooperate. That’s so stupid. Unfortunately you may not be able to add them until your open enrollment anyway. And chances are she’d have to drop them before you can add. You can attempt to apply for Medicaid for them…upon an interview you’ll probably be asked why dad isn’t providing Ins and you’ll just say he’s not cooperating. Theyll ask you for his info to find him and contact him. They can also dock his pay. His ins will cover the majority and whatever it doesn’t cover, Medicaid will then kick in.
The kids need coverage. Why would they think it’s ok to just interrupt service?
Go back to court and let them know he isn’t looking out for the kids best interest and that if they are on your insurance you know they will get seen.
Add them to your group health plan and bill him for the coverage. Life event is loss of coverage, in CA. You can write a separate plan at any time…no explanation required with a private plan.
Well then tell him to tell his immature wife to give the information. Upset or not. His withholding the children getting seen. So Is that responsible?
Sounds more upset that his gonna loose the last bit of control
Bring it back to court.
He needs to be upset with his new wife the werido kids need to be covered end of they come first x
Your kids can be covered by both of you, they’ll have a primary and secondary insurance but in all reality the court order is only in place to hold the other parent “accountable” if they don’t hold up their end. As long as it’s agreed upon between the 2 of you (basically you won’t be a bitch later and take him for contempt or something over it) then it’s perfectly fine to alter the agreement that better suits your family.
Ask him why she won’t supply the information otherwise leaving you no other option
Why would he switch anyway is the question? She sounds immature but she agreed to add them clearly and she needed their info to do so, SO why add them if she don’t wanna give out the info. They need to grow up and maybe she didn’t add them and she’s just telling him that to shut him up. May wanna find out if there even is insurance cause something just isn’t right here. Good luck
Our state allows you to submit something called a motion to compel in which you can ask he be required (compelled) to provide you with the insurance information, based on your current order. If they find that they can’t make him give the information since it’s technically not his insurance, they would more than likely provide another option, such as allowing you to provide the insurance. This can be done in motions court rather than filing to modify the entire order.
He’s responsible not his new wife. I would take him back to court and let the judge know
Put them on your ins. and he can pay for it. They are covered and he is responsible.
He’s suppose to provide insurance for the insurance. It’s fine that they’re on his wife’s BUT she needs to grow up and give the info. Tell him, to have his new wife give the info to the dentist or your taking him to court to let them know he’s not doing what he’s suppose to do. The dentist probably just needs her DOB, since she’s the primary person on the insurance. It’s not a big deal, get that info from your Ex.
It’s just unfortunate that his new wife is an idiot. She’s step mom, she should be doing what she needs to do to help her step children see the dentist.
They’re wrong. She’s being petty. She knew damn well when they decided to put the kids on her insurance, she would need to give her info to the office. I wouldn’t put them on my insurance quite yet, I would contact my lawyer first. Maybe a call from my lawyer to his threatening contempt might do the trick.
Sounds like he needs to put them back on his own plan so his wife can’t screw up his childrens care. If he doesn’t step it up contact your lawyer.
He needs to get a grip and so does the wife. If he can’t have them on her insurance (which obviously is a problem for the wife) then he needs to either get his own so the kids will be covered or allow you to cover them. Just because its in the contract doesn’t mean they get to go uninsured because the wife doesn’t want to help out.
Put the kids on your insurance for now and file court papers to force him to put kids back onto HIS insurance, NOT his wife’s. 
Unless it says specifically what insurance he has to keep on them he is fine I have known guys to take health insurance off of kids and put them on a basic Aflac. Plan so it pays the father when they. Use the insurance most decrees are not super specific
Call the insurance company and tell them you are a legal guardian, have a court order, and need the info. I don’t know if this works for all places or insurance companies but I have seen it work.
My ex was responsible according to the paperwork but half the time never had a job. I always kept them on mine and when he did decide to work, they would then be covered by both.
Legally she has to give the kids a copy of the coverage/cards; and she can do like I did when I had young step-children (to me my children). Just have him keep the cards and have him or her contact each office with the information to keep on file if they don’t want to give you a copy. I would contact the doctors and dentists directly myself; and provide what was needed to exclude my personal information from being released to her since she was so volatile towards me. I am betting your documents say he has to provide medical insurance only. Dental insurance isn’t usually written in or considered medical insurance unless you made sure to include it. His ex for years wouldn’t use my insurance and kept trying to get him to take out insurance which was insane because adding the kids to mine after after adding him cost zero. He was a contractor so he had zero insurance available through employment. Separate policies would have cost a lot and I have federal insurance which is the best around. She went as far as to take one child to an orthodontist that wasn’t covered on my plan instead of taking advantage of a $3500 discount then tried to make us pay half. I’m sure he paid it, but I wouldn’t have. Don’t be that person. It’s too hard on the kids. It would be nice to not have the drama, but let her be the drama on her own. She didn’t accept any of my insurance, medical dental vision at all until one of the kids had a heart murmur and required a lot of high dollar procedures to make sure all was well. She outgrew it. But my insurance and hers combined meant only a copay.
No wrong but you don’t need that info. She can call the dentist and place it on file and even ask for them to not give you that info. Y’all are making this so complicated. Mainly him and his new wife but still lol
My ex and I do this. He just pays me the monthly cost with my child support.
If their insurance gets dropped he can be held in contempt
If his new wife doesn’t want to provide her information and he’s responsible for insurance then he needs to pay the bills
As far as the state is concerned in my area of the insurance isn’t able to be used then the kids don’t have insurance. Sooo, I’d be telling the husband that either he fixes it or your going back to court for contempt. A friend in my area had to put her kids on her insurance b/c her ex wouldn’t put them on his like it was court ordered so had to pay her the cost of the insurance, which was added to child support.
He should be letting his wife know by refusing information HE is in contempt of the court order and his ex can take him to court for it. Its truly sad she wants to be petty however, if it won’t cost much I’d add them to your plan and use his as a back up.
talk 2 dentists’ bookkeeper. Maybe they will have some ideas.