Grey Divorce—What Issues Commonly Arise?

Grey Divorce—What Issues Commonly Arise?

As discussed in our previous blog, the Grey Divorce Phenomenon is a term coined to represents the rise in divorce rates amongst couples who have been married for 30, 40 and even 50 years. There are a multitude of reasons that could attribute to this increase in numbers, ranging from naturally growing apart over the years, to the bumping of heads on how to handle retirement. Whatever the reason, there are a few key aspects of divorcing during this season of life that everyone who is contemplating cutting the ties of their marriage should be aware of.

Alimony

While alimony is certainly no stranger to dissolution, it can become a bit more complicated when the person paying the alimony is seasoned in their career. This is due to compensation no longer being quite as simple as it once may have been when the paying party was receiving a straightforward base pay. The further along a person is in their career, the more likely it is that they’ve received remunerations, such as bonuses, compensation packages, travel perks, stocks and ownership stakes, just to name a few. If this is true of your situation, understand that all of these compensations will need be taken into consideration when determining how alimony should be structured.

Equitable Distribution

If you’re divorcing from your first marriage, it’s likely you were married far longer than you were single. During these years, you and your spouse probably acquired significant assets that must now be distributed (take note, equitable distribution is the fair division of assets, not necessarily even distribution). As one can imagine, this takes time, and sometimes requires additional experts to get involved in order to appraise businesses, real estate or value retirement accounts. In addition to this, if you have assets that you owned before the marriage, you’ll need to locate appropriate statements and documents from decades prior to prove pre-martial value—no easy task!

Pension Plans & Retirement Accounts

While pension plans may not be as common as they once were, they do still show up, especially with retirement-age individuals. A pension plan is basically a promise made by an employer to pay a monthly payment to their employee until they pass away. It’s not actual money sitting in an account, so it can be quite complex figuring out how to value and share this pension, especially if your spouse is a government employee.

In regard to retirement, unfortunately there are situations where one spouse has to nearly deplete their retirement account in order to pay off the other spouse or pay alimony. With retirement so close, this delay can be devastating for some people.

It’s clear that divorce further along in life can be complicated. These are just a few of many complex issues that people may run into when going through divorce, which is why it’s so important to hire an attorney that is familiar with family law and will fight for your rights. Call Pacific Cascade Legal today at (503) 227-0200 to schedule a Case Consultation—your better tomorrow can start today.