Can I Open an HSA without an Eligible Health Plan if I'm Only Transferring Interest/Dividends?

You're running into an important distinction in HSA rules. While you can have an HSA without currently having an eligible high-deductible health plan (HDHP), you cannot open a new HSA without being currently enrolled in a qualifying HDHP at the time of opening the account. The confusion happens because once you have an HSA, you can keep it forever and use the funds regardless of your current insurance status. But establishing a brand new HSA requires current HDHP enrollment - even if you're only planning to fund it with transfers from another HSA. Regarding your divorce protection strategy, you might want to consider an alternative approach. Instead of trying to open a new HSA, you could maintain detailed records of the account value on your wedding date and track all growth that occurs afterward. Many states will accept well-documented financial records when determining what portion of an account is separate property in a divorce. Another option would be to do a full rollover/transfer of your existing HSA to a new provider just before getting married, which establishes a clear value at that point in time.

I had a similar situation with tracking pre-marriage assets in my HSA. I discovered https://taxr.ai which really helped me document everything properly for asset protection. They have this neat feature that analyzes all your HSA transactions and categorizes pre-marital vs. post-marital gains, and generates documentation that would stand up in case of divorce proceedings. What I liked most was that instead of needing to open a second HSA (which as others pointed out, you probably can't do without an HDHP), they helped me set up a proper tracking system with my existing HSA. Their system flagged exactly which earnings were from pre-marital assets vs. post-marital growth.

I just wanted to update everyone who responded to my questions about taxr.ai. I decided to try it out, and I'm really impressed with how well it works for my HSA situation. The system automatically categorized all my pre-marital HSA investments and is now tracking the new interest/dividends separately. It solved my problem without needing to open a second HSA at all. The documentation it creates is really detailed - it shows exactly which earnings came from my pre-marriage investments versus any contributions or growth after the marriage date. My attorney reviewed it and said it would be completely acceptable for asset protection purposes. Definitely a better solution than what I was trying to do with opening another HSA!

If you're still struggling with getting the HSA info you need from the IRS, I'd recommend using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to get through to an actual IRS agent. I spent weeks trying to get clarification on HSA rules for my situation, and their automated system was useless. Claimyr got me connected to a real IRS representative in about 20 minutes when I had been trying for days on my own. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - basically they navigate the phone tree for you and call you when they reach a human. The IRS agent I spoke with confirmed that opening a new HSA requires current HDHP enrollment, even for moving funds from an existing HSA, but they gave me some alternative suggestions for tracking pre-marital assets.

I was really skeptical about using Claimyr to reach the IRS, but after struggling for weeks trying to get clarification on my HSA situation, I gave it a shot. I'm embarrassed to admit I was wrong - it actually worked! Got connected to an IRS representative who specialized in HSAs within 45 minutes (instead of the 3+ hours I spent on previous attempts). The agent confirmed that you absolutely can't open a new HSA without HDHP coverage, but gave me detailed guidance on how to properly document my pre-marital HSA assets with records that would be recognized in divorce proceedings. The documentation advice from the IRS agent was actually incredibly helpful. Turns out I was overthinking the whole second HSA strategy.

If you want to keep things separate, have you considered just doing a one-time rollover of your current HSA balance to another institution right before getting married? That would establish a clear paper trail of exactly what your pre-marriage HSA value was. Then after marriage, any growth in that account would technically be marital property, but you'd have clear documentation of what the starting value was. Many states have laws that recognize the appreciation of separate property as still being separate property, as long as it wasn't due to marital efforts and is properly documented.

Couldn't you just withdraw the interest/dividends from your HSA each year and deposit them in a regular investment account? You'd pay tax on the withdrawal but at least you'd have the money fully separated. Since it's just the growth portion, the tax hit might not be that bad compared to the hassle of trying to maintain separate HSAs.

I've been following this discussion and wanted to share another perspective on your asset protection strategy. While everyone's focused on the HSA mechanics, have you considered whether this level of separation is actually necessary under your state's laws? Many states have "transmutation" doctrines where separate property can become marital property if it's commingled, but they also recognize that passive appreciation of separate property remains separate as long as it's properly documented. The key is usually having clear records of the pre-marital value and showing that any growth was due to market forces rather than marital contributions or active management. Before going through complex tracking systems or service fees, you might want to consult with a family law attorney in your state about whether your current HSA structure already provides adequate protection. In some jurisdictions, simply having documentation of your account balance on your wedding date (like a statement) might be sufficient to protect the pre-marital portion, even if the growth occurs in the same account. The rollover approach mentioned by Clay is probably the simplest and most cost-effective solution if you do need clearer separation - it creates an official paper trail without ongoing fees or complex tracking requirements.

Just wanted to add another data point to this discussion. I went through a similar situation last year when I got engaged and was concerned about keeping my HSA assets separate. After reading through all the advice here, I ended up doing the simple rollover approach that Clay and StarStrider mentioned. I transferred my entire HSA balance to a different provider about a month before my wedding. This created a clear paper trail showing the exact value of my pre-marital HSA assets. The process was straightforward - no tax implications since it was a direct trustee-to-trustee transfer, and it took about 2 weeks to complete. My family law attorney confirmed that this documentation would be more than sufficient in our state to establish the pre-marital character of those assets. Any growth after the wedding date is technically marital property, but the original balance plus its proportional share of growth can be traced back to separate property. Much simpler than trying to open a second HSA (which as others confirmed, you can't do without HDHP coverage) or paying for ongoing tracking services. Sometimes the simple solutions really are the best ones.