Dependent of the Participant
(employee, retiree or other
individual enrolled in program as
recognized by Texas law)
Eligibility
Examples of Supporting Documents
(required)
Spouse Spouse as recognized by law
• Government-issuedmarriageCerticateAND
• Current federal tax return OR
• Proof of joint ownership** issued within last
six months OR
• Government-issuedmarriagecerticateonly
(if married in the last 12 months)
Common Law Spouse Spouse as recognized by law
• Declaration of Informal Marriage with the county
courthouse AND
• Current federal tax return OR
• Proof of joint ownership** issued within last six months
Biological Child* Natural born child • Government-issuedbirthcerticate
Adopted Child* Child is eligible at time of placement.
• AdoptioncerticateOR
• Adoption Placement Agreement AND
• Petition for adoption
Stepchild*
Child is not required to live in participant’s
household.
• Government-issuedmarriagecerticateOR
• Declaration of Informal Marriage with the county
courthouse AND
• Government-issuedbirthcerticateAND
• Current federal tax return OR
• Proof of joint ownership** issued within last six months
Child of Managing Conservator
Childisidentiedinthemanaging
conservatorship granted to the participant.
• Managing conservatorship court document signed by a
judge
Foster Child*
Child must not have other governmental
insurance.
• Placement order AND
• Afdavitoffosterchild
Legal Ward Child*
Child is under the protection or in the
custody of the participant.
• Court order signed by a judge appointing participant as
the child’s guardian (documentation of legal custody)
AND
• Government-issuedbirthcerticate
Other Child*
Child is related to participant by blood or
marriage, and was claimed as dependent
on participant’s federal income tax return
for previous tax year, and will continue to
be claimed on participant’s federal income
tax return for every calendar year the child
is covered.
A child who is acquired or born in the
current calendar year will be claimed and
continued to be claimed on participant’s
federal income tax return for every
calendar year the child is covered.
• Government-issuedbirthcerticateOR
• Government-issued marriage license to prove family
relationship AND
• Current federal tax return OR
• AfdavitofGoodCause
*Child must be under age 26 for health insurance, and can be married or unmarried. Child must be under age 26 and unmarried for dental, vision, and Dependent Term Life Insurance.
Disabled dependent children age 26 and over may be eligible for insurance. For more information visit the ERS website.
**See Documentation Requirements for examples of Joint Ownership documents. False information could lead to expulsion from the GBP and/or criminal prosecution.
Chart_2018_GBP_ElgibleDependent
9/10/20181
TEXAS EMPLOYEES
GROUP BENEFITS PROGRAM (GBP)
DEPENDENT ELIGIBILITY CHART
Make sure your dependents are eligible for insurance and that you have the appropriate documentation to show eligibility
before you enroll them in any coverage. For example, if you add a common law spouse, you must have a government-issued
Declaration of Informal Marriage dated prior to enrolling the spouse AND a current federal tax return. You are required to
provide the documentation to Alight Solutions (formerly Aon Hewitt) to enroll a new dependent. For newborn children, age
threemonthsoryounger,ahospital-issuedbirthcerticatewillbeacceptedinplaceofagovernment-issuedbirthcerticate.
Important reminders for all
documents:
• DO NOT SEND ORIGINALS. Send copies only.
• Black out all Social Security numbers, monetary
amounts and account numbers on all documents.
• No documents will be returned.
Federal tax return:
• Sendonlytherstpageofyourfederaltaxreturn
that shows your dependents.
• A state tax return will NOT be accepted in place of a
federal return.
• Black out all Social Security numbers and monetary
amounts appearing on your federal tax returns. For
example, black out earnings listed on your 1040.
Joint ownership document:
You must provide a mortgage statement, credit card
statement, bank statement, property tax statement,
residential leasing agreement or similar document
that lists both parties’ names as co-owners. The joint
ownership may be established prior to the current
year; however, the statement provided must be issued
within the last six months to show that joint ownership
still exists.
Proof-of-marriage document:
You must provide a government-issued marriage
licenseormarriagecerticatethatincludesthedate
ofyourmarriage.Church-issuedcerticateswill
NOT be accepted.
Birth certicate:
Youmustprovideagovernment-issuedbirthcerticate
listing parents’ names.
• A hospital-issued birth certicate will be accepted
only for a newborn child, three months of age or
younger.
• Somestateandcountyclerkofcesissuetheshort-
formcerticateasastandard(Iowa,NewJersey,
South Carolina, among others). Please get the
long form that includes the parents’ names. (The
long-formcerticateisthesamekindusedtogeta
passport.)
Requesting vital records:
Insomestateandcountyclerkofces,itcantakefour
to eight weeks for vital records to come in. Typically,
though, they are delivered within 10 to 14 business
days. Please order your documents as soon as
possibletoensurereceiptbythevericationdeadline.
Photocopying vital records:
Somestateandcountyclerkofceswillnotletyou
copy of vital records (Florida, Pennsylvania and
Wisconsin, among others). In those cases, there
usually is a warning on the documents that copying
is not allowed. If copying is not allowed, you should
askforthenon-certiedrecordfromtheofce.Non-
certiedrecordsusuallycostlessthancertied
records.
DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS
Make sure your dependents are eligible for insurance and that you have the appropriate documentation to show
eligibility before you enroll them in any coverage. For example, if you add a common law spouse, you must have a
Declaration of Informal Marriage with the county courthouse AND a current federal tax return. You are required to
provide the documentation to Alight Solutions to enroll a new dependent. For newborn children, age three months or
younger,ahospital-issuedbirthcerticatewillbeacceptedinplaceofagovernment-issuedbirthcerticate.
Chart_2018_GBP_ElgibleDependent
9/10/20182