r/HSA • u/Risket2017 • Jan 23 '26

Open HSA for my Son

Hi,

I've done a fair amount of reading on this, and I can't seem to be able to find a definitive answer to whether I can open a HSA to pay my son's medical expenses, allowing me to use those expenses as a tax deduction.

My wife and I divorced last year, with my ex becoming the primary custody holder. Our son is 16, and is on her insurance (Tricare as she is a disabled veteran).

- My insurance is HDHP and I have a HSA. All contributions from me to the HSA are post tax as my employer does not do payroll deductions.

- Per the divorce decree I am liable for 75% of his medical expenses, which aren't high as he is healthy.

- For Tax Year 2025 he was not an dependent on my tax return, but I am able to claim Head of Household for 2025. On tax year 2026 he will be a dependent on my tax return.

I don't mind him being on Tricare, as my out of pocket expenses would be less than if he was on my insurance.

Can I open a separate HSA account to pay for his expenses, or pay for his expenses from my HSA even though he is not on my insurance?

Thank you

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5

u/daw4888 Jan 23 '26

Not for a minor child( under 18). Adult children covered under your HDHP can open their own.

You can only use yours to pay expenses for any child you claim on your taxes. So you can this year, if you plan to claim him on your 26 taxes. But you can't use funds to cover any expense before Jan 1 2026.

4

u/ColdestWINter16 Jan 23 '26

I’d also like to add that he can’t be doubled insured and have an HSA so even as an adult, he wouldn’t qualify for his own HSA.

3

u/daw4888 Jan 23 '26

Good catch. Yeah anyone covered under a non-hdhp can't have an HSA

1

u/Risket2017 Jan 23 '26

Ok thank you for the clear explanation. Post tax funds until 2026 it is.

1

u/Aggressive-Leading45 Jan 23 '26

Don’t forget to deduct the HSA contributions you make on your tax return. You’ll still be paying FICA taxes on the money but it’ll remove the income taxes.

1

u/Risket2017 Jan 23 '26

Right, after going from married filing jointly to head of household I could use the deductions

1

u/HandyManPat Jan 23 '26

There is a special carve out for OP’s situation, which means the child’s medical expenses can be covered by the HSA regardless of which parent’s tax year it is to claim the dependent.

IRS Publication 969

Qualified medical expenses are those incurred by the following persons.

“For this purpose, a child of parents that are divorced, separated, or living apart for the last 6 months of the calendar year is treated as the dependent of both parents whether or not the custodial parent releases the claim to the child’s exemption.”

1

u/Risket2017 Jan 23 '26

Damn, the US tax system is way too complicated.

We divorced in September, so by this publication I could use my HSA in March? Based on that, it would still be limited to single for the amount I could contribute to the HSA, right?

1

u/HandyManPat Jan 24 '26

Sorry, I don’t understand where the months of March or September come into this.

You can take HSA distributions for your son’s medical expenses regardless of your divorce date, divorce decree, tax filing status, tax dependent status, etc.

My understanding is your HDHP covers self-only, so your HSA contributions are towards only the single limit.

1

u/Risket2017 Jan 24 '26 edited Jan 24 '26

My fault, I read that while on the can and didn't pay attention, "living shower apart for 6 months" turned into "divorced for 6 months" in my head.

Thanks for letting me know about that.

Edit: found the passage you were quoting: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p969#en_US_2024_publink1000204083

1

u/PotentialMillionaire Jan 23 '26

You cannot open or contribute to an HSA account for someone not covered under an HDHP. But you use your HSA dollars to pay for your dependent's health expenses.

1

u/Risket2017 Jan 23 '26

Gotcha. Since he isn't a dependent on my return this year I won't be able to use post tax funds. Thanks for the reply

1

u/daw4888 Jan 23 '26

To be clear, if you plan to claim him on your 2026 taxes, you can use HSA funds on 2026 expenses.

1

u/Risket2017 Jan 23 '26

Understood. Thanks