“Gray divorce” or divorce at an older age is remarkably common in the United States. More and more often, couples in their 50s, 60s, and 70s are choosing to end their marriages and pursue a happier future apart. Making the decision to divorce is difficult regardless of age. However, when a couple over age 50 gets divorced, there are often additional considerations and concerns. If you are an older adult who is thinking about filing for divorce, it is important to educate yourself about the issues you may face.
Legal Considerations and Financial Issues in a Gray Divorce
Divorce involving older adults is often more complicated than divorce involving younger spouses for several reasons. One of these reasons is that older spouses typically own complex assets and assets of a higher value than younger spouses. Before you and your spouse can divide marital property during divorce, a full inventory of your assets will need to be taken. You may also need to have certain assets such as small businesses and investments professionally valued. Retirement funds are an especially crucial issue in gray divorce. Generally, both spouses have a right to any retirement funds that accumulated during the course of the marriage. However, valuing retirement assets and determining how to divide retirement accounts is often more difficult than spouses expect.
It is also very possible that you or your spouse will be entitled to spousal maintenance or alimony. Maintenance if often awarded to spouses who sacrificed career advancement and educational opportunities to perform homemaking or child caretaking services. The amount of alimony a spouse may receive in Illinois is typically determined by statutory formula and calculated based on each spouse’s net income. The duration of spousal maintenance is usually based on the length of the marriage. Divorcing spouses who were married for 20 years or more may be entitled to permanent maintenance.
Taking Care of Yourself During Your Divorce
Of course, the difficulty of divorce is not only caused by the legal and financial issues a couple faces. The personal, emotional, or psychological consequences of divorce are often just as complicated and hard to navigate as the legal and financial concerns. Getting divorced after a long marriage or getting divorced for a second or subsequent time as an older adult will likely bring up some strong emotions. At times, you may feel lost, afraid, nervous, and unsure of what to expect. Receiving emotional support from a counselor, therapist, clergy member, or even just a close friend is a crucial component of taking care of your emotional needs during your gray divorce.
Contact a Hinsdale Divorce Lawyer
Gray divorce often involves complicated legal issues such as spousal maintenance and the allocation of retirement funds. If you are an older adult planning to divorce, the skilled Burr Ridge divorce attorneys at Botti Marinaccio, LTD can help. Call our office at 630-575-8585 and schedule your confidential consultation today.
Source:
https://www.thebalance.com/divorce-after-50-5-things-to-consider-2388813