Children Braces

mesi130 · 2026-02-06T09:19:56+00:00

What’s your medical breakdown in your divorce decree? If you are responsible for all just pay for them most orthodontist take a payment plan. Work with the dentist don’t just give money to her. You know this money is going directly to your child. Teeth are so important. Hopefully she’ll contribute also. Both my kids I got braces for. Are medical breakdown was like 85/15 I took out payments and just paid it myself.

retired337 · 2026-01-31T02:36:21+00:00

Seriously wont do this for your kid?

dday_throwaway3 · 2026-01-30T22:26:21+00:00

First of all, you never take legal advise from your ex.

You don't have dental insurance? Ortho is typically covered but carries a capped amount for payout.

Why isn't she paying half? They're her kids too. Your parenting agreement should be clear about who pays for what. In mine, each parent is responsible for 50% of medical (including eye and dental), education (not college) and extracurriculars. The extracurriculars are capped at a specific amount per child per year.

Historical_Eye3756 · 2026-01-30T19:13:34+00:00

Dude… it’s for ur kid. I certainly don’t want my kids growing up with effed up teeth and then getting blamed for it. I’d make your half of the payment directly to the dentist and not to ur ex. Do not give her the money

OctinoxateAndZinc · 2026-01-29T19:01:08+00:00

claiming they fall under medical uninsured expenses

Time to look at your dental/medical insurance via your work (if you've covered your kids). Does your ex have to split if the are covered?

Also you should speak with their dentist/ortho and find out what they think.

THis said - its not the worst to get them done. And YOU get the glory for paying for them (as much as one can get from a teen).

I needed them BAD when I was a kid and parents didnt pay... I bought my own while in college and worked the whole time to pay for them.

UnknownUsername113 · 2026-01-29T18:30:18+00:00

Braces ARE medically necessary most times.

You shouldn’t have to cover it all but you should absolutely be putting braces on them.

warwww · 2026-01-29T17:50:57+00:00

If your child needs medical treatment then I'm all for it. If it is impacting their health then absolutely. I would want my kid or, any child, rather to have the best outcomes in life.

That being said, both parents need to sacrifice for their kids to make it happen. It took two to make them...surely it would take two to care for and help take care of them?

This is a case of an open checkbook. You really messed up when you agreed to take care of all out of pocket expenses.

In an ideal world, an income shared model works best. I.e. you make 100k, she makes 50k. Total: 150, your portion = ~66% of shared expenses. Her portion = ~33% of shared expenses. Keeps things fair and the other party more attentive to what is being spent on their kids. Maybe this is what you need to argue for.

Tvelt17 · 2026-01-29T17:42:38+00:00

I guss it depends on whether or not the kid needs braces.

Braces are expensive and no dentist is going to say no to putting them on any kid because its big money. If the child has an overbite or crooked teeth or whatever, yeah you'll probably need to pay for the braces.

You can argue that they aren't necessary, but be ready to get a lawyer involved.

Confident-Insurance6 · 2026-01-29T17:34:04+00:00

Let me further clarify to avoid any assumptions, the child in question is 12 yo, braces are being suggested by mother because others are getting them, not because the dentist proposed them for an ailment etc, out of pocket expenses the past 4 months are $19k+, the court order which I’m trying to modify states I pay for all out of pocket medical expenses, but (this is just my opinion) there is a attempt to use this as “an open checkbook”

Competitive-Show-955 · 2026-01-29T17:13:45+00:00

Maybe. Why would you want to? If the kids are in pain, or they would benefit from them, wouldn't you want to find a way to make it happen? Im definitely not saying you should just do whatever your ex wants, but you 100% need to be doing what you can for your kids.

Can you share some more details to help us get to a more direct answer?

Title	Children Braces
Author	Confident-Insurance6
Upvotes	4
Comments	26
Date	January 29, 2026 5:08 PM UTC (6 months ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/Divorce_Men
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/Divorce_Men/comments/1qqefg3/children_braces/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/Divorce_Men/children-braces.1572242 https://theredarchive.com/post/1572242

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