Question:
I need financial advice on divorce in regards to how you divide medical insurance coverage for children’s health payments?
The plan is $200 a month no matter how many children are on it. We currently have four children on the plan, two of which are from a previous marriage.
We are agreeing do divide the monthly medical costs between the two children from the marriage, so do we divide the entire policy in half or by four?
Answer:
I am not licensed to practice law in your state so I cannot offer legal advice on divorce. However, I can give you a general answer that may be helpful to you.
Generally, you are not responsible for supporting your spouse’s children unless you have legally adopted them. Assuming this is not the case, then it is most likely a court will not order you to split the children’s healthcare costs 50/50 in your divorce.
Instead, the judge would likely take into account the fact that two of the children at issue are not biologically related to both you and your spouse in his or her determination of children’s health insurance/medical support for the children.
In other words, the entire policy would probably not be divided in two ($100 per party), but instead by four, and making adjustments for the step children, depending on whether they are your stepchildren or your spouse’s stepchildren.
In contrast, you and your spouse may agree to split healthcare costs 50/50; however, please note that you are generally not legally responsible for supporting any non-adopted stepchildren.
Speak to a divorce lawyer in your area for specific divorce advice for men.
To set up an appointment with a Cordell & Cordell divorce lawyer, including Erin E. Clark, an Associate Attorney in the Fort Worth, Texas office, please contact Cordell & Cordell.
