Legal Question in Family Law in New York

I was ordered by the judge to add my spouse to my medical insurance plan. My spouse was never on my insurance plan before, and used to get their own through their previous job. However, they have since left their previous job and opened their business, completely voluntarily. Now that they no longer have access to insurance through their previous job they asked the judge to compel me to put them on my own, and the judge granted it. I cannot understand how or why this can be. If my spouse was not on my insurance before and voluntarily left their previous job thus costing them their insurance, all of which was done AFTER the commencement of the matrimonial action by the way, how can the judge sympathize with this and order me to put them on my insurance? I feel like my spouse is just trying to needle me by asking the judge to do this. My spouse makes plenty of money, is only 40 years old, and is in excellent health, and thus from the case law I find thus far it seems like they are not a good candidate for a judge to compel me to put them on my insurance.

My questions are: is it common for a judge to compel one spouse to place another on their insurance policy when the non-insured spouse had insurance but voluntarily quit their previous job and thus lost the insurance, even when they are relatively young, in good health, and make more than enough money to support themselves? I've read through the equitable distribution statute and the case law and it seems like this type of order is a form of temporary maintenance, so is there a chance I will have to continue maintaining my spouse on my medical insurance even AFTER the divorce is over? What would happen if I just terminated my medical insurance out of principle because I don't want to add my spouse and give them the satisfaction?


Asked on 5/18/11, 9:52 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Paula McGill Paula McGill Attorney at Law

If you cancel the insurance on spite, the court can hold you in contempt and/or require you pay for her insurance through an individual policy. Of course, if she has to look for individual insurance on the open market, it could be more expensive for you. Do you really want to take that risk?

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Answered on 5/19/11, 12:40 pm


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