How should divorced parents handle car insurance for their teens?

If you’re a divorced parent of a teen driver, you need to work out the issue of whether your child will be on your car insurance policy or that of your ex, or both. The answer of whose policy (or policies) your child should be covered on will depend on a number of factors, including whose vehicle(s) your teen will be driving. Whatever the case, this is not an area where any residual animosity that you and your ex have towards each other should get in the way.

The most important thing is to make sure that your teen driver has proper insurance coverage. If not, the results could be financially disastrous. It’s essential to discuss this with your insurance agent. You should be talking to your agent about getting your own insurance policy once you work out who is getting which vehicle(s) in the divorce.

If you and your spouse share custody of your teen, you’ll likely need to put him or her on both of your policies if your child is going to be driving vehicles registered to both of you. If one or the other of you has primary custody, you should talk with your insurance agent to find out how you should handle it if your teen occasionally drives a vehicle registered to the non-custodial parent.

Of course, adding a teen driver to your auto insurance policy can be costly. Sadly, they are more likely than adults to get into serious and even fatal crashes. That’s why it’s important as part of your continued co-parenting with your ex that the two of you have consistent rules for your teen driver.

When teens have their own cars that they drive regardless of which parent they’re staying with, it’s still generally a money-saver for parents to include them on their insurance policies. Again, it’s best to check with your insurance agent to see whether your teen can be listed on one of your policies or if it’s preferable to be included on both.

Teen auto insurance coverage may be something that you need to work out during your child custody negotiations during your divorce — particularly if you believe that your spouse isn’t going to bear his or her fair share of the responsibility. Your Nevada family law attorney can provide guidance.

Source: Forbes, “Car Insurance For Divorced Parents Of Teen Drivers,” Barbara Marquand, accessed June 24, 2016