Declare a Divorce Event?

Terminating Former Spouse’s Coverage Due to a Divorce

Within 31 days of your divorce, you must declare the event by notifying SHBP Member Services of your divorce by:

• Visiting the SHBP Enrollment Portal 24 Hours a Day/7 Days Per Week (for instructions on registering or logging in the SHBP Enrollment Portal, click here), or
• Contacting SHBP Member Services at 800-610-1863, Monday – Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET and Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET
• If you fail to timely notify SHBP Member Services that your former spouse or stepchild is no longer eligible for coverage, the Plan considers this an intentional misrepresentation. You may refer to the Eligibility & Enrollment Provisions for additional information.

Enrolling in Coverage Due to Divorce

Note for Retirees: You are not eligible to add yourself or a dependent child due to a divorce. Once you terminate your SHBP coverage or your dependents coverage, you and/or your covered dependents are no longer eligible to participate in SHBP unless you return to work with a SHBP Employing Entity in a benefits eligible position.

If you were covered by your former spouse’s plan and lose coverage due to the divorce, and you would like to enroll yourself and any dependent, you may enroll in SHBP coverage by taking the following steps:

• Within 31 days of your divorce, you must declare the event by notifying SHBP Member Services of your divorce by:
  • Visiting the SHBP Enrollment Portal 24 Hours a Day/7 Days Per Week (for instructions on registering or logging in the SHBP Enrollment Portal, click here), or
  • Contacting SHBP Member Services, Monday – Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET and Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET
  • If you fail to timely notify SHBP Member Services, you must wait until the next Open Enrollment period, unless you experience another Qualifying Event or Special Enrollment Event to enroll in coverage.

Within 45 days after you notify SHBP Member Services, you must provide a certified copy of your divorce decree to remove your spouse from SHBP coverage.

However, if you have another child who was covered by your former spouse’s plan, and you would like to add coverage for your child who also lost coverage due to the divorce, you must provide a:

• Letter from the other plan documenting name(s) of everyone who lost coverage, date of the loss of coverage, reason for the loss of coverage and/or discontinuation of coverage
• Copy of a certified birth certificate or birth card issued by the hospital listing parents by name
• Social Security Number of each child you would like to cover (if your child does not have an SSN, please see information here)

To assist you in providing the verification documentation, our Dependent Verification Services (DVS) team will send you a letter with a unique bar code from SHBP within 1 to 2 business days via email if you have an email address on file; and if no email address is on file, the letter will be mailed to you within 2 to 4 business days if you have an address on file. This process is referred to as your DVS Audit and your spouse will remain enrolled in SHBP coverage until you provide the necessary verification documentation proving he/she is ineligible for SHBP coverage due to divorce and the DVS team approves your Audit. If another dependent loss coverage due to the divorce, your dependent will not be enrolled in SHBP coverage until you provide the necessary verification documentation proving eligibility for coverage and the DVS team approves your Audit.

Please do not submit verification documentation until you receive your letter from DVS. Providing documentation to anyone, including your former employer or other entity not appointed by SHBP for this purpose, or via any other means not provided for in this letter will result in you failing the DVS Audit. If you fail the DVS Audit, you will not have another opportunity to add your dependent, unless you experience another Qualifying Event or Special Enrollment Event to make a change to your coverage. 

Note for Retirees: If you fail the DVS Audit, you will not have another opportunity to add your dependent, unless you experience another Qualifying Event or Special Enrollment Event to make a change to your coverage. 

If you need to speak with a member of the DVS team, please contact SHBP Member Services via email at [email protected] or via phone at 800-610-1863 and select the appropriate prompt for Dependent Verification Services.