My wife and I are finalizing the terms of our divorce agreement. We were stuck on a couple of issues so we had a pre-trial conference. During the conference, the judge threw me a curve ball. I was in agreement to provide health insurance for my wife and our three kids until the kids are emancipated. My company has a three tier plan — individual, individual plus one and family plan. The family plan is almost cost-prohibitive while the other two plans are less than a third of the family plan.
All three of our kids are in college (ages 22, 21 and 20) so I am only paying for the family plan for three more years. It will be tight but I will manage. Out of nowhere, the judge said I should keep the kids on my insurance until the youngest is 26 because that is permitted in Massachusetts. I cannot do this for six more years.
Now my wife is stuck on this issue which was a non-issue before. Is this really a thing? I literally cannot afford to pay until they are 26. What can I do?
Massachusetts health insurance law in this regard is a right not a guarantee. In other words, you only have a legal obligation to support your children until they are deemed emancipated. Your college student children become emancipated, assuming they remain in college, until the first to happen of their graduation or their 23rd birthday. So, regardless of the fact that you are permitted to provide health insurance until they are 26, it is not mandatory that you do so.
Often judges offer what they think is helpful information during a pre-trial conference but it is not necessarily what will be ordered in the event of a contested trial. Frankly, the judge does not have the power to order you to pay for health insurance for emancipated children.
Hopefully your wife can be convinced that just because the judge made a suggestion does not mean she is guaranteed to get that order after a contested trial. Offer to keep all three children insured for the next three years — you look like a good guy and there is no added cost. Thereafter if she wants to pay the difference between the plus one and the family plan, you will keep all three insured until age 26. Or negotiate a reduction of something else in exchange for three more years insurance for your kids.