Imagine a divorced couple in South Africa. Usually, the kids live mainly with one parent (let’s say Mom), while the other parent (Dad, for example) pays child support and keeps the kids on his medical aid.
So, Mom is the one taking the kids to the doctor, the eye doctor, and so on. Normally, Dad’s medical aid pays for these visits.
The problem comes up when Dad’s medical aid runs out of money for the year, or if the kids need something that the medical aid simply doesn’t cover.
What happens if Mom goes ahead and arranges these extra treatments or visits without telling Dad beforehand? If she tells the doctor, ‘It’s okay, Dad will pay the bill,’ is Dad legally required to pay for something he didn’t even know about or agree to upfront?
This article looks into whether the parent paying the bills (Dad, in our example) is still on the hook for these costs when they weren’t consulted first.
Where we deal with matters as a result of divorce, there is always a court order of divorce. As such, the financial duties of both parents in respect of the minor child are strictly outlined in the divorce order. Where the order indicates that the financially responsible parent (usually the father) is required to cover the medical expenses of the minor child and that such a child would become a member of this parent’s medical aid, it is quite clear that the child is covered financially in this respect.
A divorce order generally would indicate that serious medical issues should be discussed between the parents first before anything is entered into. The court order may also indicate that the father must provide for the medical expenses of the child outside of the costs provided for by the medical aid. However, it cannot be a blanket provision. The law always tries to find a balance between the rights and responsibilities of parties. As such, the mother should not act as if she has a “blank check” concerning the medical expenses of the child. Where costs outside of that are covered by medical aid, the parents need to discuss the costs, and the mother should only enter into agreements once the father’s consent has been obtained.
South African law at present does not have a strict provision to deal with such circumstances. The best manner in which to avoid such disputes is for the attorneys to draft the clauses of the divorce summons to provide for contingencies in such extenuating circumstances.
Should you be considering entering into divorce proceedings, contact us, and we will draft your divorce summons, which provides for such extenuating circumstances.
Saeedah Salie
saeedah@bbplaw.attorney
Associate
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