Thursday, January 14, 2010

Health Insurance Coverage For Life

Health insurance coverage is one of the most prized commodities on the market. Once you have it, you never want to lose it. When you get divorced, however, you cannot remain on a "family" policy because you are no longer a member of a family. You a legal stranger. [ There are provisions under COBRA for extensions of coverage on your own for a limited period that are not discussed here.]

Agreements often discuss health insurance benefits, but you have to be mindful of the limitations of insurance coverage and also careful in crafting the terms of your Agreement.

In a case decided on January 12, 2010 by the Virginia Court of Appeals (McCoy v. McCoy, Record No. 3087-08-3), the ex-wife gets to continue having her former husband pay for her health insurance coverage even after she remarried! Even though a court does not have the independent authority to order a husband to provide health insurance after the divorce, the poorly worded Agreement was incorporated into the Final Decree of Divorce and gave the court the authority.

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