Wilkins v. Wilkins

A wife with serious medical conditions filed for divorce, but during trial, the parties agreed to a legal separation to ensure the wife’s continued access to her husband’s employer-sponsored health insurance. The separation agreement’s primary focus was delaying the divorce for 4 years, until the wife reached age 62 and became eligible for 36 months of post-divorce continuing health insurance coverage through the husband’s employer-sponsored health insurance. The superior court divided the marital estate and ordered the husband to pay spousal support for 3 years and to pay for the wife’s health insurance coverage after the expected later divorce. The wife appealed, arguing the court erred by failing to value the husband’s post-retirement medical benefits, declining to consider her agreement to legally separate as a factor in her favor when dividing the marital estate, wrongfully conflating spousal support with its property award, and unfairly allocating the overall property division. After review, the Alaska Supreme Court reversed the court’s ruling that it did not need to value the husband’s retirement health benefits and remanded for its valuation and a renewed equitable property distribution. View "Wilkins v. Wilkins" on Justia Law