Texas child support orders often provide that the parent with visitation rights is ordered to provide a health insurance policy for the child.

However, what happens when the parent with visitation rights (NPC – non-possessory conservator) fails to obtain the health insurance policy when ordered to do so? If the possessory conservator (PC) then puts the child on the PC’s health insurance policy so that the child has health insurance, can the PC seek reimbursement of the child’s health insurance premium from the NCP? If the PC has a claim, how is this calculated?

In this example, the PC has a potential claim for reimbursement for premiums under Section 154.182 of the Texas Family Code. So, the Texas Family Code does allow the PC to seek reimbursement for the costs of insuring the child NPC failed to cover, if the NPC was ordered to obtain coverage and failed to do so.

Many times the parent stepping in to cover the child has an insurance plan that covers the entire family, regardless of how many children are covered by the policy. Does this have an effect on the PC’s potential claim? In this circumstance the PC may not have incurred any additional out of pocket expense to obtain the child’s health insurance coverage. Does the PC still have a claim for reimbursement in this situation?

In Bird v. O’Donnell, 03-04-00603, Austin 2006, the court of appeals ruled that the PC must show an increase in actual incurred cost due to adding the child to that insurance policy. The court held that there could be no reimbursement of the premiums in that case, because the premiums did not increase when the child was added to the policy. Because the premiums did not increase, there was no additional out of pocket expenses incurred by PC by adding the child to the policy.

Therefore, in these kinds of reimbursement cases under Bird v. O’Donnell, the PC has the additional burden to show that adding the child to the policy caused a specific increased out of pocket expense to the PC that was not present previously.

To speak with Diana Larson or Erik Larson about your case, call us at (713) 221-9088.

In almost every divorce or custody case, parents worry about the children’s emotional health during visitation with the other parent. Parents also wonder about what child custody arrangement benefits kids most in a divorce. However, a new study on custody arrangements benefiting kids, published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, as well as legal consultation from an experienced family law attorney may provide valuable insight.

The study found that children of divorce are at their healthiest point emotionally and mentally when they share time with both parents after the divorce or split, rather than living with only one parent.

One of the study’s researches stated that “It was surprising that children who have two homes and move frequently report less stress symptoms than those who live in one stable home after their parent’s separation.”

In the study, the kids who lived with both of their divorced parents reported significantly fewer emotional problems and other issues than children who lived with only one parent. The study’s authors conclude that their findings “indicate that stability in the child’s parents’ relations is more important than stability in housing.”

This finding is consistent with past research which has shown that children suffer the most emotional issues when there is a high level of conflict between the parents in a divorce, rather than the fact that the parents physically separate in the divorce. The literature has shown that a high level of conflict between parents is significantly more harmful to children than the parents’ physical separation in a divorce.

When parents work to keep the level of conflict low in a divorce, this will benefit the children emotionally.

For legal assistance in Texas child custody arrangements, contact our Houston divorce firm today to schedule your complimentary case review. 713-221-9088