Legal Question in Family Law in California
spousal support not included in divorce decree
Divorced one year ago. Decree did not stipulate any medical insurance be continued or provided to ex. Now ex has $2k medical bills and says can go to court and get more money and/or force me to provide medical insurance. Insurance was cancelled by employer upon notification of divorce which I did way after the fact. Company rep felt if ex wanted to have coverage and was willing to pay back premiums, then could probably have insurance. My research indicates fed law says company must offer spouse option of keeping insurance. I kept clear of this since communicating with ex is always a nasty hassle from her.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: spousal support not included in divorce decree
The federal law you found is called "COBRA" and it allows former spouses to continue on medical insurance provided through employers for up to 3 years following a divorce. The company should have sent the information to the former spouse automatically, but some smaller companies are not as organized as they ought to be, so you may want to follow up to make sure this happened. You may want to follow up as a courtesy anyway, and have a duplicate COBRA package sent to the ex spouse.
As for the "can the ex go back to court for medical bills question" your original court judgment controls. You should take the stipulated judgment to a lawyer to interpret the exact language. You can probably find a lawyer to consult with on an hourly basis in order to do this, and it would be worth the $150-$350 spent for the peace of mind. "Spousal support" can be interpreted to include medical expenses, and without a specific waiver of spousal support or medical expenses, you may have some risk. Don't panic--I said "may". You want to be sure. That's why I suggest you see a lawyer.
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