Thursday, January 21, 2010

Is it legal for a parent to show up at court with a years worth of medical bills and demand payment?

A friend of mine went to court the other day to find out that his child's mother has been storing up medical bills for the last year and has now handed them all to the court for reimbursement by the father. Is this legally acceptable, not to mention ethically right? The father has stated several times over the years to provide documentation regarding the medical expenses and the mother refused to do so - until now and all at once! Doesn't seem right to me. The state is PA.Is it legal for a parent to show up at court with a years worth of medical bills and demand payment?
The woman who collected these bills should be smacked ... HARD! However, she is still entitled, by law, to get the reimbursement. The money can be garnished from wages or he can obtain a personal loan. My bet is that it will be garnished!Is it legal for a parent to show up at court with a years worth of medical bills and demand payment?
Okay, my first thought was ethical and legal in regards to child raising was that it is the same. Ethically, the mother should provide the medical statements as they are received.. However, the father owes them regardless of when the services were provided. He might as well pay them and avoid any court hearings. In the end he will pay the bills plus court costs. Just pay the bills and call it good. He may also want to have the medical institutions send him current bills as well as summaries on medical procedures done.
YES, the father is responsible for 50% of the charges. The fact that she did it all at once is not nice, but if he was willing it pay it in the past, it shouldn't be a problem now. They shouldn't force him to pay them all in one payment though

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