Legal Advice Concerning Separation/ Insurance

Hi Rhonda,

Don't know where some of this advice is coming from, but I don't think you are compelled to carry insurance on anyone, especially if you can't afford it. On Monday, speak with your HR department (the insurance expert).

I'm sorry you married so quickly and figured it didn't work after the fact. Hope you will be very careful in future if not for yourself, for your 12 year old. Sounds like he's been through too much too soon.

Have you ever wondered how you manage 20 people successfully, yet flounder in your personal life? Start setting some really high standards for anyone you allow into your personal life and you will be happier then ever!

You could probably do the divorce yourself, unless there's a lot of property to divide and/or your husband wants to try to take you for a longer ride. Take a look at the Nolo press book on divorce or check with legal aid before you spend a lot of money.

Blessings.....

My insurance company paperwork made me fill in the legal date the divorce was final. I also had to send copies of the divorce certificate. Then my husband was removed from my insurances.

Hope this helps,
A.

Hi Rhonda,
First off Im sorry you are going through this. At least you realized early on its not working out. As for your ins issues, I use to be an HR manager and it is not, let me repeat that IT IS NOT illegal for you to remove him from your ins policies. He is trying to freak you out. Looking at his situation its not a good position to be in right now. The one thing you need to look at is, when you remove someone they may still be covered for the rest of the month. Just like when you leave a job. This might apply when removing someone too. Its been a few years since I have dealt with ins companies but that is what I remember. Over all, ask your HR manager. Thatis what they are there for, to guide you and help you through these difficult times.

Good luck

SAHM with 2 adorable little boys. 3.5yrs & 10mos.

Hi Rhonda,
Unfortunately, you can not drop him from your plan until a legal divorce. If your HR Rep is good, they should collect supporting documentation of the official divorce. He would then be eligible for COBRA, in which he would have to pay for his own coverage - though it can be very expensive. It would be cheaper for him to find an individual plan.

You could also try getting him off during your company's Open Enrollment period, but depending on whether your company enforces it, they may also ask for supporting documentation that he has coverage elsewhere.

I've heard that you can also acquire an "official notice of separation of marriage". This would also allow him to be taken off your plan. I don't know how difficult it is to get. I don't hear a lot of couples doing it.

Hope this helps.

-N

Dear Rhonda,
I'm sorry to hear that you're going through this situation, but it sounds like it was a decision best made early on. I hope you can get through it with as little bitterness as possible. My divorce was literally one of the ugliest on record in my county. Maybe I'll write a book about it one day.
As far as insurance goes, my husband did every illegal thing humanly possible to me in that regard. I became a licensed insurance agent once my son was old enough to start school, and boy....if I knew then what I know now!
The most important thing for you to do is speak with your human resources department or plan administrator. It depends on how your plan is set up, such as, is it small group or large group and are they fully self-insured? I have provided a link that gives some brief information regarding the COBRA and continuation of benefits laws. It should help answer some of your questions. If your company falls under COBRA regulations, your legally separated spouse should be notified of his rights to continue his health coverage, unimpeded, at his own expense. That could take care of several things: having him removed as one of your dependents under the plan, legally allowing him to continue his coverage if he chooses to do so (which covers your fanny), and him being responsible for his own health insurance premiums. Take precaution with the last part, however, because many times spouses freak out when they realize the cost of the premiums. They either decide not to continue the coverage, (which is up to them), or they try to have the court order that the employed spouse make the payments as a provision of the divorce. Your marriage was brief, so hopefully that won't become a factor, but I have seen it happen. You need to have someone help you to make sure that any division in property, assets/expenditures is clearly spelled out.
If you'd like to contact me personally, please feel free to do so. I'm not working right now due to recovering from an injury, I'm not affiliated with any company, but I'd be happy to help in any way possible.
Best of wishes and good luck to you!

http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/newsroom/fscobra.html

Rhonda, I work in HR and as far as I know, this is not illegal. When you remove him, he will be eligible for COBRA, and that is something that he would have to pay for on his own. I am assuming that you are getting a divorce? If/when that happens, it will be illegal for him to stay ON your plan as he is no longer a legal dependant. You may just want to wait until then if it helps to keep the peace. Don't know much about your situation, but I hope that the info. that I gave you helps. You should be able to talk to the person at your work that handles the group health insurance and they should be able to find out the best plan of action for you, and if it is in fact illegal to remove him, but as far as I know it is not illegal. I have never actually asked that question to an attorney though. Good Luck

I am a paralegal but have been divorced twice. I know CA law for common law rules which is over 7 years for everything being separated equally. If you are the primary on the health insurance, you have control to take him off if you so desire, unless he is paying a part of the premiums. To me it sounds that he is not.
If you need help in handling paperwork for filing purposes, let me know.
T.

Rhonda, the biggest point has been missed I think from everyone's responce. You mentioned your husband has been off work the majority of your marriage. Therefore, a judge could see it that you are the bread winner and have to pay your husband alimony. On top of that, make you keep him on your insurance, due to him not having a job.

When I went through my divorce years ago, once you file everything freezes. For example, you cannot remove a spouse from any insurance, change beneficiary, etc. The best advice I can offer is to contact a lawyer. Some have free consulations so show around. Some HR depts are not up on all legal actions.

Good luck

Hi Rhonda, sorry you're going through this. I'm also going through a divorce right now, but am a little farther through the process.

First of all, you should talk to an attorney. Most family law attorneys will meet with you one time for a small consultation fee (much lower than their hourly rate, frequently about $100) and you can get these kind of questions answered and decide how you need to proceed.

Second, yes, it is illegal for you to make changes to your life or health insurance from now until the time your divorce is finalized (so if he's the beneficiary on your life insurance you can't change that either). In fact, your insurance carrier probably won't let you make the change. However, there is no reason he shouldn't pay his share of the premium. When you talk with an attorney, ask about ways to take care of that cost.

EDIT... Have you actually filed for divorce. The automatic restraining orders (no changes to insurance, can't take kids out of state etc.) go into effect when you file. If you haven't already filed, you could (and should) probably make whatever changes you want to now.

Good luck, hope this helps.

T.

will it be a divorce in the end? it is illegal to KEEP him ON the insurance once that happens. when your employer doesn't have 'open enrolment' one of the times you can change your plan at anytime is for divorce. ask your HR or Benefits department. you might have to wait until the divorce is final. i'm going through some of this same situation right now. Good luck & i'm glad you're moving on!

Hello Rhonda: I am sorry that your relationship did not work out. I know that a family member is doing the same & I was told that she is going to have to pay for her own insurance and is doing Cobra but she pays for it. That his insurance cut her off with the divorce. Check with your HR and find out. You should talk to your divorce lawyer and not listen to anything he has to tell you. I do know people that have asked for it as part of the divorce but without children or a medical concern it might be hard to get.
Good Luck with your life, Nana G

When my sister was going through a seperation/divorce, she asked her attorney if she could remove him from her insurance and the attorney said not until the divorce was final... however, any bills that you pay he will owe you half of so keep track. If the insurance is for his vehicle or one he drives, he should be paying the entire premium. Keep track and send him the bill or give it to the judge... whichever is easier. But, keep in mind that if he is paying bills that are both of yours, the same stands for you. He can ask you to pay half of anything that he pays on behalf of both of you. Hope this helps. Good Luck?

PS... about what somebody said about alimony and you being responsible... codswalup! If you have only been married 18 months and there are no dependent children between you... you should be in the clear (at least in California), again... hope this helps.

My partner is in the middle of a loooong, drawn out divorce and no, once you file you CANNOT remove him from your insurance. If you do it during open enrollment, he can make you pay for cobra or private insurance to cover the cost of his insurance. Trust me on this one, my partner has had to continue coverage and they have been legally separated for two years. He certainly could have removed her during open enrollment and then he would have been forced by the court to re-add her immediately. Once he's allowed to remove her from his coverage (after the divorce is final), her cost of personal insurance is deducted from her income before they compute alimony.

Thankfully, you haven't been married long, so you should be able to disentangle yourself at least somewhat quickly.

good luck.

Hi Rhonda,
I thing the "someone" who told him it was illegal was himself! It's definitely not illegal to cut the insurance ties with your husband if it's coming from your job. You can insure whomever you want and not insure whomever you don't want. And if there is life insurance through your job, you should be able to remove him from that as well. If you have life insurance through anyone else, that's not so easy, but if you are the one having to pay those premiums, I would just stop paying them....ta-da, no insurance for him. If it is for you, you can go in at any time and change your beneficiary. I've never heard the beneficiary has to give their consent to be dropped. Good luck to you. And this one's just for green stamps (if you remember those!)....try giving dating and men a rest. It sounds like you may not be sure what kind of relationship you're looking for, and besides, it is best to take a break and re-evaluate your relationship to see what went wrong so the same things don't happen the next time. God bless.

I am so sorry for your situation.

I am not sure if it is illegal. However, I was deemed responsible for a medical debt that my ex-husband incurred about a month before we were married. It totally sucked. I gave him months notice that I was going to take him off during the open-enrollment period at work. It was only 6 weeks before the divorce was final. I didn't even know where he was.

If your divorce is going quickly and he is not being a jerk, then you might want to keep him on until the divorce is final. IF not, then you might want to file for a legal seperation and you should at least be covered. IF it is ugly anyway, you will probably have to see a lawyer anyway.

Good luck!