Divorce requires the examination of many things you may not really deal with much in your daily life. Insurance is one very important area that needs to be dealt with during your divorce. From life insurance to health insurance, you need to understand how your divorce will change how these policies work and the types of insurance policies you may need.
For instance, if you and your spouse are relatively young and healthy, you may not have life insurance or disability insurance. If you have children, life insurance is generally a good idea, to protect your children should one of you die suddenly in an accident or of an illness.
After a divorce, if one party is paying child support or spousal support, life insurance becomes essential. The policy should be designed to cover the parent paying the support, and should be sufficient to cover the remainder of the payments due before the child turns 18 years of age.
This policy should be set up so the non-paying spouse automatically receives notification of any changes in payment status, such as failure of premium payments or any attempt to change the beneficiary. This can alert you if a former spouse stops making payments on the policy or otherwise violates the divorce settlement by making unauthorized changes
You will also need to deal with the issue of heath insurance, and if your former spouse is required to provide insurance for the children, you want complete instructions contained within your parenting plan. Clear and detailed requirements make it less likely that a spouse will pretend they did not understand what was required of them.
Explicit instruction also set the correct expectations and ensure you understand the extent and breadth of the coverage.
You will also need to secure your own car insurance and either change your homeowner’s policy or obtain renter’s insurance if you move into an apartment.
Source: nerdwallet.com, “5 Crucial Insurance Changes After Divorce,” Barbara Marquand, May 27, 2016
