Divorce / HSA division

[Kimcole]

Divorce was finalized Nov ‘24 ex held insurance and HSA.  Per degree 1/2 of HSA is mine, roughly $33,000.  I am 56, work about 12 hours a week, $17 an hour.  I do not have a high deductible Insurance policy.  I do have some government coverage.  Optum holds HSA.  They won’t even talk to me to direct me.  I’m at a loss and don’t see a way to get my money

[Bsch4477]

When presented with a divorce settlement stipulating the transfer of half of the account and any required transfer paperwork the financial institution must create an account in your name with the transferred funds. Try talking to a supervisor or manager before asking your attorney for help. 

[rjs]

I'm not an expert on this, but I believe that half of the money in your ex's HSA has to be transferred to a new HSA in your name. You first have to open your own HSA. Optum probably has a form for transferring the money, and probably you and your ex both have to sign the form.

You don't have to keep your own HSA with Optum, but they might require you to open an HSA with them in order to do the initial transfer. You could then transfer it to any other trustee that you choose.

Once you open an HSA with Optum, they will, of course, talk to you. But your ex has to initiate the transfer. If you have trouble getting this done, or your ex is uncooperative, ask your divorce lawyer for help.

[dmertz]

Similar to an IRA, your share of the HSA must be moved by trustee-to-trustee transfer as a transfer incident to divorce.  The funds are not permitted to be paid from your ex's HSA directly to you.

As rjs indicates, you must have your own HSA to receive the transfer.  Easiest would be to establish your HSA at Optum, at least initially, otherwise the transfer would need to be coordinated between different HSA custodians.  Once you have an HSA to receive the transfer, the transfer would be done under the instruction of your ex, the present accountholder, who needs to provide Optum with a copy of the divorce decree that stipulates the split.  If your  own HSA is at Optum, the transfer would be accomplished entirely within Optum.  (If your ex is uncooperative, contact your attorney.)  Establishing the HSA to receive the transfer and providing your ex with the account information is all that you need to do.  Your ex must do the rest.

[Opus 17]

As others said, you must first open an HSA somewhere, then ask your ex to perform the transfer.  Your ex will likely need to provide some proof of the divorce order to their HSA bank.  If your ex does not cooperate, contact your attorney or the court.  

Note that this is not considered a contribution by you.   You are not allowed to make contributions yourself (according to your current insurance situation), but once the money is in your HSA, you can make tax-free withdrawals to pay for qualified medical expenses.  (Yes, even though you can't make tax-deductible contributions, you can make tax-free withdrawals for medical expenses.)

Or, you can withdraw the money not for medical expenses, but you will pay income tax plus a 20% penalty.