No. An automatic Court order enters in every Rhode Island divorce case. This automatic order prevents a person from cancelling their spouse from health insurance while the Divorce is pending.
Cancel spouse from health insurance
Paragraph #4 of the Rhode Island Family Court Automatic Court order states:
“4. Neither party shall cause the other party or the children of the marriage to be removed from any medical, hospital and/or dental insurance coverage, and each party shall maintain the existing medical, hospital, and dental insurance coverage in full force and effect.”
This Automatic Court order legally binds the plaintiff when the plaintiff signs the divorce complaint. The Automatic Court order legally binds the Defendant when the defendant is served with the divorce complaint. A person who violates the Automatic Court orders can be held in Contempt and punished accordingly
RI divorce and health insurance
Even though it is technically not contempt to remove your spouse in anticipation of filing for divorce, it is a very bad idea. In all likelihood the judge will order you to restore your spouse’s insurance coverage. It is also possible that you could be held liable to pay all of your spouse medical bills! That could be thousands of dollars of exposure.
In order to cancel health insurance or remove a spouse from health insurance during a Rhode Island Divorce, there must be a Court order allowing the health insurance removal or a written consent stipulation between the parties.