Divorcing Late in Life. What You Need to Know and How a Divorce Attorney Can Help

An Attorney is Important for Couples Divorcing Later in Life
Many times older people reach a place in their life when divorce is a real possibility. It could happen if one or both spouses have been unhappy in the marriage for a long time. A spouse may struggle with the idea of retirement and the increased amount of time they will be with their spouse. With some people, being divorced gets them excited at the idea of starting a new life. Others get blindsided when their spouse of many decades tells them that they want to end the marriage. This is when things can get complicated and divorce lawyers need to be consulted.

Divorcing Late in Life. What You Need to Know and How a Divorce Attorney Can Help

Impact On Life
A divorce later in life is going to have a significant impact on a couple. It is going to affect them socially, emotionally and financially. When making this decision, an older couple needs to take the time to understand how it will affect every aspect of their life. Couples need to work on making plans for their life after divorce.

Adult Children
It is often assumed when people divorce later in life, their children won’t be hurt by it. They believe their children will have been spared experiencing the pain of a divorce when they were young. The reality is that adult children are often deeply affected by their parent’s divorce. It will be emotional. The family they’ve known for so long will no longer exist. Many times there can be grandchildren who will be impacted by this divorce also. Unfortunately, a divorce doesn’t only affect the two people married.

Finances
No matter what age people are when they get divorced, it is expensive. When people get divorced later in life, separating finances can be complicated. Most older couples have multiple vehicles, a home as well as a vacation home or other properties. They could have more than one retirement account as well as other types of investment accounts. The expenses that need to be divided could involve credit card bills, mortgage, car loans, sometimes a second mortgage as well as payments for a child’s college and more. If the couple owns a family business, it could really complicate things. It is imperative that a divorce lawyer be consulted before entering into any agreements on how to separate finances.

Divorce Expense
It’s important for couples divorcing later in life to realize the more complicated the divorce, the more expensive it will be to make it happen. They will have less time to recover financially from a divorce. The years necessary to accumulate sufficient financial assets for retirement may be gone. It could be  difficult for an older person to get a college degree and try to start a new career. A divorce attorney will have to carefully analyze the situation and figure out a fair way to split assets and expenses. This will then have to be negotiated between the divorcing couple. All this will take time and cost money.

Reasons Divorce
There are many common reasons people give for wanting to divorce later in life. Some believe they are going in a different direction than their spouse. One may want a more active life, and the other may want to slow things down. There are couples who divorce later in life because of past regrets. Many times a couple gets married for the wrong reasons. A spouse may stay in a marriage only because they believe they are doing the right thing. It’s also possible a spouse is unable to let go of past pain caused by their husband or wife. Before considering a divorce later in life, it’s important couples know their reasons are strong enough to accept the amount of change a divorce will bring them.

A divorce will change a family’s dynamic, as well as relationships with friends and other family members. In many cases, it could be complicated and expensive. It’s also possible for a married couple to believe it is worth it. Divorcing later in life should always be discussed with an experienced divorce attorney. They will know how to provide the desired result in this type of divorce situation. We have expert late in life divorce attorneys waiting to speak with you and provide a free consultation.

Call our law offices today at any of our convenient locations and get a free consultation.

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