One of my friends is about to be dumped off their parents' health insurance and are in the all-american sweet spot of 'too-poor to afford insurance', 'too-rich for medicaid'. We joked about getting married so they could get on my insurance because my union takes care of me pretty good but I'm worried I don't understand the implications enough to make a good decision.
What does getting married actually mean?
This is a question for an actual lawyer. Most give free consults, so consulting under the guise of a prenup request (which rarely hold up) might be a free way to get a professional in your state to chime in (and if nothing else would help refine search terms).
It’s not illegal afaik. Federally at least, sham marriage laws mostly only care about immigration purposes.
I’m not sure of the intricacies, but if the friend takes on new debt after the marriage you’d also be on the hook.
I mean, how would they know it’s a sham marriage? Like getting a green card then immediately divorcing or having flings seems obvious. But health insurance is an ongoing expense unlike a green card.
Edit: to more directly answer your question: the investigation would ask questions to people who knew them and try to find ways to argue that it was only for the bennies.
They don’t have to know, the cop-prosecutor just has to convince the jury.
It’s a law mostly used for racist reasons, as is. With the occasional tax fraud case being the instigating incident. Fr though, it’s a total non-issue when both are citizens. They don’t give a shit so long as the paperwork is filled out right.
Every actual risk in this, is our comrade getting financially hurt if the friend stops being a good friend.
Counterpoint: If you care about someone enough to have a sham marriage so they can get health insurance, is it really a sham marriage? Risking criminal charges for the health of those you care for sounds like purest form of love to me.
If you decide to get divorced, your assets earned during this marriage will be most likely be divided. Personally, I would never do this because the idea of splitting assets with someone who I don’t even love romantically at any point seems absurd.
Could a pre-nup stop this? We want to be a roommates at some point, too, but want to keep our finances separate.
I’m not a marriage lawyer, but my understanding is that they can help mitigate the effects but aren’t fool proof. And apparently expensive to generate for some reason.
not a lawyer, but pre-nup is for managing assets acquired BEFORE the marriage. Once you are married, all your partners assets are owned by you 100% and vice versa, minus anything in the prenup.
Importantly, this includes your preexisting income after the marriage happens, court doesn’t care if you never got a raise. If you made X before the marriage, after the marriage they get a share of X
But what if they pull the card of "it was a sham marriage from the start, here is the proof we signed and dated before doing the fraud"
I’m not entirely sure it would be fraud, assuming the forms are all filled out properly. The risk is in the marriage itself, if I’m understanding properly.
No, some states it helps, but if you are forced into a no fault you’re screwed over no matter what if you earn more (which the context makes me believe you do)
Check divorce law if your in a place that doesn’t allow for no fault divorces but I’m pretty confident that there is no mandatory dividing of things if the parties aren’t fighting each other about who gets what stuff and pays which bills.
Pretty confident that its only if the parties are actively fighting each other will a court step in to divide assets, kids, and debts.
My parents split with a no fault divorce with no fighting over who got the house, alimony, or possession of the kid (me), or visitation to the kid (also me). So no court mandatorily divided anything.
Read deeply about your insurance policy.
First, it may not matter if you’re married. It may allow for domestic partnerships. If allowed read about what the insurer accepts as proof of domestic partnerships.
Second, how much will it add to your premiums.
Third, how long does it take to kick in.
Not qualified to give a good answer, but whatever you do, pay the taxes on it.
I feel this would somehow eventually end the friendship. Are you two extremely poly? What is your (future) partner or friend's partner going to think when they find out you two are married?
We are and our boyfriends were going to walk us down the aisle for the mock ceremony.
It's a very big thing to do. I don't think I've ever had a platonic friend that I would do it for. You're probably looking at paying a couple hundred for the marriage license, and thousands when you do divorce. If they had a life threatening condition I could see it, but why not just help them get a job with your union?
I don't really have the frame of reference to say, but even if it's a lot of work and time to coach a friend into being able to get the job, maybe that's comparable?
Marriage is basically like forming a partnership where all assets and debts accrued during the partnership are generally owned jointly even after divorce. Student debts incurred before the marriage can also be impacted in terms of benefits given for low income debtors. There are also income tax filing implications which may be more favorable to the both of you if one earns less than the other. You could file married filing separately or married filing jointly but these are things to consider down the line and just use any free service like the IRS free file or Freetaxusa.
Definitely check if your insurance accepts domestic partnerships first. If they do I don't see why you shouldn't.
If they don't, then no clue. Marriage seems a bit far.
I actually just offered that (just domestic partnership, not marriage) to a friend in a similar situation, but they haven't really said anything in response.
Oh I'm a dumbie they do! This is the best way forward for us, thank you!
Why the fuck not? As long as you trust them enough to bind yourself legally to them. Traditional relationships are bullshit anyway, so there's no reason you should feel obligated to reserve marriage for a romantic partner.
