Foster Children Requirements
To be considered a foster child for health benefits and life insurance purposes:
- The child must be unmarried and under age 22 (or, if the child is over age 22, he/she must be incapable of self-support).
- The child must live with you.
- The parent-child relationship must be with you, not the child's biological parent.
- You must be the primary source of financial support for the child.
- You must expect to raise the child to adulthood.
You don't need to be related to the child, nor do you need to legally adopt him/her. As long as the above requirements are met, you may have a foster parent-child relationship even when:
- The child's natural parents are alive.
- The child's natural parent lives with you.
- The child receives some support from sources other than you (e.g., Social Security payments or support payments from a parent).
Common examples of a foster parent-child relationship are:
- A child whose parents have died is living with, and being supported by, a close relative who is an enrollee.
- A child who is living with and financially dependent on a grandparent who is an enrollee. (The natural parent of the child may also be a dependent.)
- A child living with an enrollee under a pre-adoption agreement.
- A child who is in the legal custody of an enrollee.
Page last updated: 11/03/2008
