HSAs are sooooo much more flexible than traditional health insurance when it comes to dependants.
CRA allows for your tax free HSA funds to be used for any person related by blood, marriage, or law.
Who could that include?
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spouses
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children
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step children
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adopted children
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parents
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in-laws
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grandparents
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cousins
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and more...
The key is that the individual(s) must be financially dependent upon you in order to qualify.
Qualifying notes
For a common-law spouse to qualify as a dependant, you must have cohabitated (lived together) for the last 12 consecutive months.
At times, a separation or other type of agreement may continue to qualify a dependant spouse. If so, ensure you keep documentation on file in case of an audit or review by CRA.
If adding your or your spouse or common-law partner's parents, grand-parents, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, nephews, or nieces, they must qualify as residents of Canada at any time in the year the expense was incurred.
If qualification changes, be sure to keep your dependants up to date in your online Member Centre.
Determining eligibility for claims
When you add a dependant to your account, the Effective date affects your dependant's eligibility on your benefit plan features. You can read more about effective dates in this article, Effective dates for dependants.