If you are over 50, divorcing your spouse may shock your families and friends. However, you have a lot of company. In fact, the Pew Research Center reported in 2017 that divorces among the over-50 crowd were rising dramatically.
The good news is that older couples do not usually have small children, so you are probably not grappling with custody issues. However, the gray divorce can be complex, especially when it comes to property division.
Real estate
Many couples, regardless of age, have to decide how to split the marital home. However, it is sometimes more difficult for older couples. You may have the house paid off, which can make buying out one party expensive. Over the years, you may also have invested in a vacation property and you must now decide what to do with it.
Income properties add another layer of complexity. One of you may want to sell while the other would prefer to continue receiving the income. Some couples try to manage their income properties together after a divorce, but you may find the money is not worth the heartache.
Retirement
You likely did not expect to be facing such an uncertain future so close to retirement. You may have spent years saving for retirement together, but now those retirement dreams will take on different forms. If you are like most couples, your financial contributions to your retirement fund were not exactly equal. That can make it difficult to agree on how to divide the retirement money equitably. You may have questions about Social Security benefits as well.
Collections
At this point in your lives, you and your spouse may have spent decades together collecting precious possessions. Weekends spent antiquing or scouring garage sales can pay off handsomely. You need to ensure an accurate valuation of the guns, antiques, jewelry, musical instruments or historical artifacts you have amassed over the years. The same goes for big-ticket recreational items such as classic cars, boats and RVs.
