When I was growing up the idea of divorce was not discussed openly. Divorce carried the risk of social stigma as if ‘t’il death do us part’ was an unbreakable contract and divorce a moral failure. My mother believed that divorce was impossible because my father ‘owned’ everything. Times have definitely changed. People are living longer, women are building careers and financial security and an empty nest may signal a desire for a profound change.
In the past 30 years the rate of divorce for younger people has declined but for people over 50, (so called ‘grey divorce’) the rate has doubled. Why? For all of those reasons plus the fact that remarriages have a higher rate of divorce than first marriages.
This presents some financial and legal challenges unique to grey divorce: dividing pensions and other assets can impact financial security, longer marriages may result in higher spousal support, estate planning will need to be adjusted.
While challenging, people over 50 can benefit from the mediation process supported by independent legal advice. Grey divorce can now be much more a beginning than an ending.