Dependent Definitions

For benefits, you may enroll your:

• Legal Spouse
• Eligible dependent children
• Your domestic partner who meets the rules set by your employer
• Eligible children of your domestic partner
  

Coverage for a Domestic Partner

To be eligible for coverage, you and your domestic partner will need to complete and sign a Declaration of Domestic Partnership

A Domestic Partner is defined as a person of the same or opposite sex.

To be eligible, you and your domestic partner must:

• be at least 18 years old;
• share a close personal relationship and be responsible for each other's welfare;
• have shared the same legal residence in an exclusive relationship for 12 months;
• not be related by blood or affinity in a way that would disqualify them from marriage under State law if the employee and partner were opposite sexes;
• be legally competent to contract; and
• share sufficient financial and legal obligations 

If you and your domestic partner enroll, you may also cover your domestic partner's dependent, naturally or legally adopted children under age 19 (or under age 26, if unmarried and a full-time student primarily dependent on you for support and maintenance).

Coverage for Dependent Children

To be eligible for coverage, a dependent child must be under 26 years of age.

An eligible dependent child includes:

• your biological children;
• your stepchildren;
• your legally adopted children;
• your foster children, including any children placed with you for adoption;
• any children for whom you are responsible under court order; and
• your grandchildren in your court-ordered custody

Coverage for a handicapped child may be continued past the age limit shown above, however, such coverage may not be continued if the child has been issued an individual medical conversion policy.