New York Divorce Report - New York's Divorce and Family Law Blog

Two years ago, Domestic Relations Law 177 was enacted, requiring parties to acknowledge their awareness that following the divorce they would no longer be eligible for medical insurance through their spouse on the basis of their marriage. Recently, the laws governing equitable distribution were amended to require courts to consider the loss of medical insurance as a factor in awarding maintenance and distributing the marital property. Unanticipated problems arose from the implementation of Domestic Relations Law 177 particularly because the statute mandated that all settlement or separation agreements, whenever executed,  contain specific language intended to insure that the parties were... More

In the present political climate, health care and medical insurance coverage are hot button topics. But, for those going through divorce, medical coverage has long been a fertile topic for consideration. It was for this very reason that a law was enacted two  years ago (and discussed here)  requiring parties to a divorce to acknowledge that following the entry of divorce that they would no longer be eligible to a continuation of medical benefits derived solely by virtue of their marriage. I suppose too many people were caught off guard without medical coverage following a divorce. Effective September 21, 2009,... More

The New York Times ran a front page story detailing how the availability of medical insurance has become a major consideration in the decision to divorce or to wed. In a poll conducted this spring by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health policy research group, 7 percent of adults said someone in their household had married in the past year to gain access to insurance. The foundation cautions that the number should not be taken literally, but rather as an intriguing indicator that some Americans “are making major life decisions on the basis of health care concerns.” The issue of... More