How Are Children’s Medical Expenses Divided?

If you have children and get divorced or if you have parental responsibilities or a custody case, one of the issues that arises is who will pay for the children’s medical expenses moving forward. The statues in the state of Colorado specifically addresses this issue. The statute says that any extraordinary medical expenses will be divided in proportion to the incomes of the parties. If one party earns 75% of the total income and the other party earns 25% of the total income, then the higher earning party will pay 75% of those medical expenses and the lower earning party will pay 25% of those medical expenses.

However, the statute says “extraordinary medical expenses.” It does not say all medical expenses, which can get a little bit confusing. Extraordinary medical expenses are defined as any medical expenses for the children that are not covered by insurance in excess of $250 per year, per child. The idea is that child support will cover the first $250 per year, per child of medical expenses. The party who has the majority of the parent time, the party who is receiving child support, is generally responsible for that first $250 per year in medical expenses. Then any expenses per child, per year in excess of that first $250 gets divided in proportion to the incomes of the parties.