Can I stay on my ex’s health insurance after my divorce?
Unfortunately, no, you are not able to stay on his/her health insurance after the divorce as that is an event with the health insurance company that requires for you to be removed from the policy. It can be agreed that you will keep the cobra coverage/comparable continuation coverage under many policies for a period of time, but your attorney would have to look at it to see if you would be able to obtain that continuation coverage under your spouse’s policy.
The majority of cases that we handle, we ask you to shop for private insurance, inquire about it through your employer, or look at the Affordable Care Act, at this is sometimes cost-effective depending on the situation.
Again, it is not when the two of you file for divorce that you lose the coverage, or even when you sign a settlement agreement, it is only when the Judge signs off on the divorce at the end of the case when your spouse/you are obligated to notify their employer of a change in status. If your spouse takes you off before the end of the divorce, they may get in trouble for that if the divorce has been filed and if the court has put a standing order in place which states that you can’t cancel insurance during the pending divorce. These standing orders are commonplace in many counties in Florida, but not all counties, so please speak with an attorney about where there is an Order in place restricting your spouse from canceling or changing your health insurance while the case is pending.
Additionally, please speak with your healthcare provider if you are nearing the end of your divorce to determine when you will have to obtain your own insurance if you are currently on your soon-to-be former spouses’ insurance policy.
To be very clear – this is insurance law, not family law, so your attorney or your settlement agreement is the mechanism to extend your insurance. Therefore, you need to determine when your insurance will end and what options you have going forward.
