Is a Marriage Certificate Enough?

Marriage certificates are great for one thing: They prove that your employee and their spouse were once married. But is this enough for your Dependent Verification Auditing process? The short answer is no.

Ineligible dependents on your plan interfere with healthcare cost containment. To maximize your annual benefits savings, you need to understand the current relationships with all the dependents on your plan. If you are only requiring a marriage certificate, you’re only getting half of the story. A divorced couple still has a copy of their marriage certificate and can use this year after year to claim eligibility, when in fact, the spouse is not.

The best way to define a current relationship isn’t with a marriage certificate, but with a joint tax filing.

Joint tax filings are better sources of verification because:

• Tax forms are filed every year and represent the most current relationship
• Marital status is noted
• A tax form is a legally-binding document
• All key information is included: Dependent names, social security numbers, and dates of birth

Taxes are sensitive information and employees might be uncomfortable releasing this information in the dependent audit. At ConSova, we understand your employees’ needs for keeping this information secure. That’s why we accept joint tax filings with all financial information redacted. We only need names, date of birth, and social security numbers to complete the audit—information your employees would already give you.