Oregon law mandates that a divorce judgment provide for the payment of uninsured medical expenses of the child; insurance (or other security) to ensure the continued payment of child support in the event the child support payor dies; and medical support for the child.

An Oregon court will not sign a divorce judgment or decree unless the judgment designates which parent will pay the health insurance premiums of the minor children. The judgment must also include a section allocating how uninsured medical expenses will be divided between the two parents. The uninsured medical expenses could include copays, services not covered under a policy, amounts not paid because the parent has not yet met a deductible, or for care received by an out of network provider. The allocation could be that one parent pays these expenses or they are split equally between the two parents, or in proportion to their income.

The parent responsible for paying child support is also required to purchase life insurance. This requirement ensures that, if the paying parent dies, there will be money available to support the child until adulthood. Usually, the amount of the coverage will be $250,000 or $500,000 for a middle-income family. It is the responsibility of the child support payor to pay the premiums.

Oregon law provides a mechanism to verify that the policy is, in fact, in force.

The life insurance policy can be paid to the other parent or to a trust funded by the life insurance proceeds.

What about when a child turns 16 and gets a driver’s license? Whose responsibility is it to provide car insurance? Under certain circumstances, a parent may be held liable for a teen’s negligent driving. If the teen is on the parent’s insurance, the insurance will cover the losses suffered by the other driver. The parents may want to discuss who will cover the child from the perspective that they are protecting their own interests. If an accident occurs, both parents will want to know that there is enough coverage to make the insured party whole. In other words, if the teen causes the death of a thirty year old Stanford engineering graduate who is the founder of the next Amazon, a minimal $25,000 policy will not be sufficient to cover the damages. Best for both parents to protect themselves and consult with their insurance agent and make a joint decision.