Divorces involving individuals over the age of 50 have become known as gray divorces. They have become exceedingly common, too, with some studies showing as many as a third of married couples in this age bracket end up getting divorced. And those who find themselves facing a gray divorce are forced to come to terms with unique legal challenges that must be carefully navigated if they don’t want to find themselves at a financial disadvantage post-divorce.
Given the implications of those issues, you need to be prepared to properly address them in your marriage dissolution. This requires knowledge of the law and an understanding of what it takes to protect your interests. You might not know where to start in that analysis, but we hope that this post will help you find a starting point so that you can then work to diligently build your divorce case.
Gray divorces present unique challenges that require special attention. Here are some that you’ll need to be prepared to address in your marriage dissolution:
- Alimony: When you divorce at a later stage of life, you might have a limited amount of time to obtain a job, secure an education, and build a career. That can put you in a financial predicament. However, spousal support can help you secure financial stability. So, heading into your divorce, have a full understanding of your and your spouse’s financial positioning, and be prepared to argue why you need that additional support.
- Inheritances: The older you are, the more likely you are to have received an inheritance. When you divorce, you’re going to have to determine if those inheritances are marital property subject to division or if you’ve managed to keep them separate from the marital estate, in which case you could keep the inheritance to yourself. So, carefully analyze what’s been done with your and your spouse’s inheritances so that you can address them accordingly.
- Health insurance: If your divorce is going to force you to go out and buy an individual health insurance policy, then you might be in for surprise when you see how much one of these policies costs. If you don’t factor that into your gray divorce, then you could wind up in a more difficult financial position or choose to forego the coverage that you need.
- Retirement accounts: When you divorce at a later stage of life, you have less time to replenish your wealth. If you lose too many of your retirement assets, then, you could lack the financial stability that you hoped for upon retirement. Make sure you’re acquiring your fair share of these assets, and don’t be too quick to give them up in exchange for other assets.
- Social Security benefits: Depending on your circumstances and the length of your marriage, you or your spouse may be able to recover Social Security benefits from the other. If you don’t know how to navigate this issue, then you could miss out on additional assets to which you’re entitled.
Know how to properly navigate your gray divorce
As you can see, there are a lot of issues to address in a gray divorce. To obtain the best outcome possible, you have to know how to aggressively advocate for your position, which will require knowledge of the issues in play and the law. You’ll also want to know how to gather relevant evidence and present it in a compelling fashion. If that’s something that you could use help with, then please continue to search out resources and guidance that you need to position yourself for success.