I'am now divorced from my husband. It has been ugly, to say the least. We live in Arizona. In our decree he is to cover my medical insurance...

Question

I'am now divorced from my husband. It has been ugly, to say the least. We live in Arizona. In our decree he is to cover my medical insurance. He wired transferred money into my account and did not tell me that was for new health insurance. He wrote a small note on the wire transfer. I was on his group policy. He has informed me that I was to pay for my insurance myself. He signed me up on the policy and did not tell me what was going on. The policy has dropped me for non-payment. I was in the dark the whole time. He obviously did this to upset me. I no longer have coverage. Do i have any recourse? He was to take care of my insurance. HELP

Thanks,

Christa

Answer

I have no idea. It would depend on what the decree of dissolution states.

If the decree was vague as to instructions, it appears to me from what you wrote, that your ex did what he was ordered to do.

From what you wrote, he wired you money, set up a policy and sent you the money to pay for the policy.

Did you use the money that he sent to you for other things, not ordered by the court?

I do not know what he was ordered to do - Was he ordered to give you the money in a different way? Was he ordered to notify you of the new policy? Were you supposed to get money for other things and maybe you got confused as to what the money he sent was for? etc...

I would need to review your decree, your communications with your ex and the insurance company, etc., before I could advise you on this issue.

Just an FYI.....once a divorce occurs and a decree is entered (and in Arizona if 15 days has past since the decree was entered) a person who is employed and who was receiving health/dental/vision insurance through their employment for a spouse, can no longer cover that previous spouse on their policy - as you are no longer a spouse.

His insurance company may have had a way to split up the insurance policy and set up a new policy for you; or your ex may have been required to set up a whole new policy for you from a different company or he may have chosen to set up a new policy for you (all of this should have been looked into before the decree was finalized and signed so that details such as this could have gone in the order). Again, I have no idea what was ordered, therefore I cannot tell you if he violated the orders.

I would try to contact the insurance company and explain to them what happened and try to get the policy re-instated or a new one issued. You also may be able to find insurance on the https://www.healthcare.gov/ website and then use the money he sent to pay for the policy and if what he sent is not enough to cover that new policy, look at the order to see if you have any recourse.

It is always my advice that if you are going through a divorce: Make sure that you hire a qualified and experienced divorce attorney to assist you, especially one who can properly draft a final decree or make sure that if the other side is drafting it that you are protected.

- It will be well worth the cost involved.

Goldstein & Scopellite, PC has qualified divorce lawyers and child custody attorneys available to represent you at either one of their law offices located in Dallas, Texas and Tucson, Arizona - Please visit their websites at www.LawyersDallas.com and www.Lawyers-Tucson.com for more information or to contact them. Thank you.