In late-life divorce, spouses face unique challenges | Minneapolis ...
Recent U.S. Census data shows that even as Americans are living longer, their marriages are not surviving. According to a report issued earlier this year, fewer first marriages are lasting 35 or even 25 years as they used to.
While mid-life divorce has some advantages over divorce between a younger couple - for example, the children tend to be grown, so no worries about child support or custody battles - experts say those who undergo a divorce later in life have issues with property division that are unique to their age and needs. Older couples tend to have more substantial financial assets to wrangle over, and have the specter of divorce looming over them. If one spouse is left with significantly less of the marital property at, say, age 60, he or she may find themselves in serious financial straits.
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal examines three common assets that middle-aged divorcing people must figure out how to divide, and provides advice on how to do it. Here they are:
? The house. These days, it can be very difficult to sell a home. Due to the poor real estate market, it may be months before the house sells. Spouses may need to decide whether one of them is willing to continue to live in the family home. If not, the spouses may need to split the expenses to keep up the house while it sits on the market.
? Retirement accounts. These include 401(k) and other retirement accounts, along with any pensions either spouse may have earned during his or her working life. In equitable distribution states like Minnesota, each spouse has a claim to part of retirement accounts built up by the other spouse. The way such accounts are divided up is through qualified domestic relations orders, or QDROs. QDROs are special orders issued by the family court, and are specific to the type of retirement account. QDROs are complicated, so make sure your divorce attorney is experienced with them.
? Family-owned businesses. Husband-and-wife businesses often don't survive when the owners divorce. One smart option is to plan ahead by agreeing to a post-nuptial agreement that provides for what happens to the business in the event of a divorce.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, "The 'Splitting' Headaches of Late-Life Divorce," Kelly Greene, Aug. 6, 2011
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