Dependent coverage deported spouse

[Guest Mark Russell]

An employee's spouse has been deported. The deported individual is expected to return in three to six months. The plan covers dependent spouses as long as they are not legally separated, (this will be defined as a domestic agreement to be separated) but the author of the plan could not foresee an illegal immigrant qualifying as a dependent. Is the deportation and non-US residency status enough to terminate coverage? What if the person in question never returns to the US, can coverage ever be terminated?