Family Member Verification for Benefits

Visit the RIT Service Center for questions about your benefits.

Family Member Eligibility For Benefits

  • Your legally married spouse
  • Certified (through RIT) Domestic Partner
  • The child of the employee or the employee’s spouse who is under age 26
  • The child of the employee’s domestic partner who is under age 26 (NOTE: if the child is not claimed as a dependent on the employee’s federal income tax return, this benefit will be taxable)
  • The foster child (under age 18) of the employee, defined as an individual who is placed with the employee by an authorized placement agency or by judgment decree, or other court order
  • Any other child who is under age 26, and
    • for whom the employee is the legal guardian or custodian, and
    • who resides in the employee’s home, and
    • who is claimed as a tax dependent on the employee’s federal income tax return

Legally married spouse and certified (by RIT) domestic partner can be covered under the Dependent Spouse Life and/or Spouse AD&D insurance 

A child of the employee, an employee’s spouse or domestic partner who is under age 26 and unmarried (does not necessarily have to be a tax dependent) can be covered under the Child Life and/or Child AD&D.

NOTE: If an employee and their spouse/domestic partner are both eligible for dependent life and AD&D, only one can only one can cover the children for Child Life and AD&D. An employee who is eligible for Basic Life through RIT cannot be covered under another employee's spouse life and AD&D coverage. 

Tuition Waiver
  • Your legally married spouse or certified (by RIT) domestic partner
  • The child of the employee, the employee’s spouse, or the employee’s domestic partner who is under age 30
  • Any other child who is under age 30, and
    • for whom the employee is the legal guardian or custodian, and
    • has been the legal guardian or custodian for at least three years prior to the date on which the child begins using the educational benefit, and
    • who resides in the employee’s home, and
    • who is claimed as a tax dependent on the employee’s federal income tax return.

NOTE: If a child has matriculated in a program before the age of 30, he/she would be eligible for Tuition Waiver to complete that same degree program started (not a different program) through the academic quarter in which the child attains age of 35. There will be no Tuition Waiver available beyond age 35.

Tuition Exchange and Tuition Scholarship
  • The child of the employee, the employee’s spouse, or the employee’s domestic partner who is under age 30
  • Any other child who is under age 30, and
    • for whom the employee is the legal guardian or custodian, and
    • has been the legal guardian or custodian for at least three years prior to the date on which the child begins using the educational benefit, and
    • who resides in the employee’s home, and
    • who is claimed as a tax dependent on the employee’s federal income tax return.

Acceptable Family Verification Documents

Below are acceptable documents to prove a family member’s eligibility. RIT will accept photocopies of the verification documents

  • New hires must provide copies of appropriate documents before coverage can begin
  • Employees making a mid-year change must provide copies of the appropriate documents within 31 days of qualifying change of status event
  • Employees making an open enrollment change must provide copies of the appropriate documents by the end of the open enrollment period.

  • Marriage certificate issued by local government or by the religious institution where married (NOTE: by submitting a marriage certificate, you are attesting that you continue to be legally married to your spouse and that you are not divorced) OR
  • Top half of your most recent federal income tax form identifying employee-spouse relationship

  • The child's birth certificate that includes parent-employee name or
  • the child's birth certificate without parent-employee name AND Supplemental Information verification form AND supplemental document (e.g., tax return showing child’s name) or Immigration papers that identify employee-child relationship

Birth certificate that includes adoptive parent-employee name or Certified court approved adoption papers with adoptive parent-employee name or Placement letter from court/adoption agency with parent-employee name

Certified court ordered guardianship papers with guardian-employee name

NOTE: There are two steps: proof that child is your spouse’s child and proof that the child’s parent is your spouse.

Birth certificate that includes employee’s spouse’s name
or
Birth certificate without employee’s spouse’s name AND Supplemental Information verification form AND supplemental document (e.g., tax return showing child’s name)

AND

Marriage certificate issued by local government or by the religious institution where married
NOTE: by submitting a marriage certificate, you are attesting that you continue to be legally married to your spouse and that you are not divorced)
or
Top half of your federal income tax form identifying employee-spouse relationship

In addition to the verification information described above, you must also provide the Social Security disability award.

How to Obtain Documents for Family Member Eligibility Proof

An official certificate of every birth and marriage should be on file in the locality where the event occurred. The Federal Government does not maintain files or indexes of these records. These records are filed permanently in a State vital statistics office or in a city, county, or other local office. To obtain a certified copy of a certificate, write or go to the vital statistics office in the State or area where the event occurred.

The National Center for Health Statistics provides a list of what offices to contact for documents, based on state or area.

Information for obtaining birth records in Monroe County can be found at Vital Records. If you need a copy of a marriage certificate, that can be requested by the same city or town office of the clerk who originally issued the marriage license. These records are not kept by county clerks.

Verifying Dependents

RIT has a family member verification (FMV) process to ensure that only those people who are eligible for benefits are covered and that the proper tax status is applied. It is important that RIT and employees are spending money as intended and that required taxes are paid.

Employees should submit their documents through Family Member Verification service request upon new hire or mid-year qualifying event. Tax documentation for tuition purposes can submitted directly with your tuition benefit submission, but will also be accepted through the service request. 

Employees submission of  the eligibility verification documents only need to be provided once regardless of future benefit plan enrollments. Tax status verification for educational benefits purposes needs to be provided annually.

Related Information and Documents

Family Member Verification service request

Affidavit of Domestic Partnership