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can also advise you, but they may not be as familiar with the details of the plan as you might expect. (To get the maximum possible time, if the plan says that the final judgment is the event that starts the 36-month period running it's a good idea to wait until after the judgment is entered to advise the employer about the divorce. Otherwise the employer might use the date notice was received as the starting point and courts have said that's okay.)

COBRA has strict time limits. The employee spouse must notify the plan administrator of the divorce-generally, through the employer-within 60 days after the court issues the final judgment. If your spouse is the employee, make sure this gets taken care of. To be completely certain it happens, you may want to do it yourself. The plan administrator then has 14 days to send you notice of your right to elect COBRA coverage. You then have 60 days to send back the forms electing coverage, and 45 additional days to pay the premiums. It's a good idea to return the paperwork right away, both to be sure that nothing goes wrong and to avoid having to pay lots of premiums at once.

After you've elected coverage, for the most part you won't need to go through your spouse for any of your COBRA transactions. You'll pay your premiums directly to the insurer and use your coverage just like any other member of the group.

The COBRA Timeline

Learn more about COBRA. If you have general questions about COBRA and divorce, call the plan administrator or the Employee Benefits Security Administration (part of the Department of Labor) toll-free hotline number, 866-444-EBSA (3272). You can also go to the Department of Labor website at www.dol.gov/ebsa and read consumer FAQs on COBRA.

COBRA is a great benefit and one that you certainly want to take advantage of, but it's also time for you to begin exploring what other coverage will be available to you once your COBRA coverage ends. If you're pretty certain that you'll eventually get a job with health care benefits-or if you already have a job that provides coverage, but you're opting for COBRA because your spouse's coverage is betterthen it's obviously not as important. But if you are retraining, or for some other reason you don't expect to be employed when the 36 months end, you definitely need to explore your options.

Get out the mouse. Searching for individual health insurance coverage can be frustrating, but the Internet can help you compare options and simplify the application process. To compare individual plans, including temporary insurance plans, try www.ehealthinsurance.com. You'll find other sites, but most of them use the www.ehealthinsurance.com search engine to compare plans.

Special Rules for Military Spouses

If your spouse is in the military, special rules apply when it comes to medical benefits and COBRA does not apply to you or your kids. The kids can keep their military medical benefits, but you'll have to find another option after a brief transition period. Chapter 12 has the details.

Beginning a Divorce ..................................................................................................................307

Where Should You File? Jurisdiction, Domicile, and Residence .....................308

Serving Divorce Papers on Your Spouse .....................................................................310

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act ............................................................................. 313

Custody and Visitation .......................................................................................................... 315

Custody, Visitation, and the SCRA ................................................................................315

Preparing a Parenting or Family Care Plan ................................................................316

Overseas Visitation ................................................................................................................ 318

Support for Children and Spouses ..................................................................................