Divorce or Legal Separation

Following a divorce or annulment, you will be able to—and in certain cases, you must—make changes to benefit plans outside of Open Enrollment. You must make these changes within 30 days of the event.

Important Information

  • A copy of the divorce decree or legal separation document confirming the names of both parties, date of the divorce, and the judge’s stamp or signature will be required.
  • Plan changes made must be consistent with the terms of the divorce decree.

Medical and Dental Coverage

You must take the following actions:

  • Remove your former spouse and/or stepchildren from your IU plan (they are no longer eligible).

You may take the following actions:

  • If you are currently covered under your spouse's plan, enroll yourself and your children in the IU plan.

Supplemental Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D) Insurance

You may take the following actions:

  • Add or drop coverage.
  • Increase or decrease the coverage level.

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)

You may take the following actions. The action must be consistent with the qualifying event.

  • Enroll in a Healthcare and/or Dependent Care Spending Account (if you lost coverage under your ex-spouse’s plan).
  • Increase or decrease your Healthcare and/or Dependent Care Spending Account election (if already enrolled).

Health Savings Account (HSA)

If you enroll in a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) you are also eligible to enroll in a Health Savings Account (HSA). Once enrolled, you may change your contribution amount at any time by completing an HSA Enrollment/Change form.

You are responsible for tracking your contributions to ensure you don’t exceed the IRS annual contribution limits. If removing your spouse or dependent(s) results in excessive contributions, you must work with Nyhart to resolve the issue. See the Instructions for IRS Form 8889 or contact a tax advisor for additional information.

NOTE: if you enroll in the HSA or change your HDHP coverage level on or after September 1, you will not receive IU’s contribution to your HSA for the remainder of the calendar year.

Additional Considerations

You may also want to consider making changes to the information and plans listed below. Such changes do not require completion of a Life Event Change and can be done at any time.

Resources

Make Benefit Changes