For most people, going through a divorce is understandably stressful. Ending your marriage can impact many facets of your life. One often overlooked area is insurance. Health, life, and automobile insurance policies must be updated or changed in order to reflect your newly divorced status. This can mean higher premiums or become a source of contention between you and your former spouse. Fortunately, a capable divorce lawyer can help you negotiate such matters during the divorce settlement process.
Making changes to you health insurance policy while in the midst of a divorce could potentially leave you overinsured, underinsured, or even uninsured. Although it is tempting to remain silent and stay on a former spouse’s health insurance policy, this could result in being dropped later as a result of fraud. Following a divorce, most former spouses are eligible to obtain temporary COBRA coverage at full cost. Additionally, a divorcing couple must determine who will maintain and pay for the health insurance needs of any children who issued from the marriage. Whether the cost is shared equally, rotated, or simply incurred by one spouse must be negotiated as part of the divorce.
Much like health insurance, divorcing can have a dramatic impact on any life insurance policies a couple may own. Following a divorce, an ex-spouse must be released to make any beneficiary or other changes he or she deems necessary. Some parents feel additional life insurance is necessary following a divorce in order to fully provide for their minor children. Additionally, because insurance coverage may play a role in the divorce settlement process, a family court judge may order a former spouse to maintain a life insurance policy for the benefit of an ex in order to offset the potential for lost alimony payments.
Although it may sound obvious, it is vital to ensure that all life insurance policy payments are made in a timely fashion. When updating your life insurance policy after dissolution, you should also ensure that any workplace life insurance policies, retirement benefits, and advance healthcare directives reflect your current wishes.
Another frequently overlooked insurance policy during a divorce is automobile insurance. Once the two are no longer living under the same roof, a divorcing couple will need to ensure they have separate car insurance policies. This can result in higher premiums and added expense. If the cost of maintaining your automobile policy will be a burden, you should ask for additional alimony payments in order to offset the added cost. Also, it is a good idea for a divorcing spouse to obtain their own car insurance policy as soon as possible in order to ensure they are not unexpectedly removed from a joint policy without warning.
If you are in the midst of a divorce or other separation in Florida, call Attorney Sandy T. Fox toll free at (800) 596-0579. He is a hardworking Broward County divorce lawyer who focuses his practice exclusively on family law matters. Mr. Fox is available to help you negotiate your divorce settlement and advise you on a wide variety of family law issues like spousal support, name changes, insurance policy modifications, child custody, and child visitation. To speak with a knowledgeable and experienced Florida family law attorney today, please do not hesitate to contact the Law Office of Sandy T. Fox.
More Blog Posts:
Economic Downturn Has Increased Number of Pro Se Divorces in Florida, Fort Lauderdale Divorce Lawyer Blog, September 12, 2012
Divorce Expos are Popping Up in Florida, Nationwide, Fort Lauderdale Divorce Lawyer Blog, August 28, 2012
Additional Resources:
How to untangle your insurance plans in divorce, by Geoff Williams, Reuters