Late-Life Divorce Rates Skyrocketing

February 24, 2012 (Press-News.org) America's divorce rate has maintained an average of about 50 percent for first-time marriages for several years now. There is one demographic that has seen a sharp rise in its divorce rate, though: the so-called "baby boomers." Couples over the age of 50 are now divorcing more than twice as often as they did back in the 1990s, and now one in four marital splits results in a "gray divorce."

How Are Late-Life Divorces Different?

Couples who have been together for 20, 30, 40 years or more are intrinsically linked in countless ways. They likely share a home, have children, have joint bank accounts and have an equal share in large assets like stock accounts and vacation properties. When so much property is at stake, the struggle for control of that property is going to be more heated than if smaller amounts were at issue. There is also more chance of a dispute arising over something that is not necessarily worth a lot of money but holds sentimental value for one of the spouses -- the other spouse might want the item for his or her own purposes or even just out of spite.

Gray divorces also need to address something that younger couples might not immediately think of: retirement and pension accounts. These are of particular importance when there is a clear imbalance in wealth of both parties, as is often seen in the "baby boomer" generation when one parent (typically the woman) stayed home with the children instead of working outside of the home. A divorce settlement must consider each party's financial worth and provide an equitable solution for both parties.

With longer life expectancies, job losses, home foreclosure, disappearing stock account balances and shrinking paychecks all adding to the usual stresses involved in a divorce, it is more important than ever before that each party in a later-life divorce is represented by a competent divorce attorney throughout the proceeding.

Article provided by The Law Office of Thomas M. Brasier
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