Georgia residents who are married may be on the same health or life insurance policies. However, when they split, one spouse may find that he or she no longer has health insurance. Therefore, it will be necessary to either take part in the COBRA program or buy a policy through the Affordable Care Act. Those who choose to participate in COBRA will pay both their share and the employer’s share of the plan premium.
Therefore, it can be rather expensive to do so. However, it does mean that a divorced individual has the exact same coverage that the or she had prior to the divorce for up to three years. An ACA policy may not necessarily provide the coverage that an individual needs, but it is generally cheaper that obtaining coverage through COBRA.
Life insurance policies that are purchased before a divorce may be considered a marital asset. Therefore, it may need to be discussed as part of the final divorce settlement. Furthermore, a life insurance policy may need to be purchased before the divorce becomes official. This helps to ensure that alimony and child support payments are covered in the event that the payer becomes disabled or dies. Ideally, the person receiving the payments will buy the policy to retain as much control over it as possible.
These topics are not often considered in detail when a couple is going through a divorce. As a result, some people end up with severe financial consequences. This is why both parties who are facing the end of their marriage might want to meet with their respective family law attorneys at the outset of the process.