Divorces in general are on the decline, but divorces among people aged 50 and older are actually becoming more common in New Jersey as the need to stay together for children and other life conditions become less pertinent. Changing attitudes about life fulfillment and longer lifespans have also contributed to people choosing to divorce at a later age. With this later age also comes special challenges.
More assets
One of the biggest challenges to divorcing later in life is the associated financial messiness of divorce. People often have significantly more assets to divvy up when they’re 55 than they did when they were in their late 20s. In particular, there’s Social Security, which isn’t available to you when you’re younger. Because of this, you should check your Social Security benefits and understand what kinds of benefits you can expect when you divorce.
Beneficiaries
If you get divorced at a younger age, you may not have even thought about estate planning, but in a gray divorce, it can be a major reason to review your beneficiaries. It’s common to make your former spouse a beneficiary, considering that your assets were likely intertwined, but you should review where your assets will go in the case of an emergency.
Cost of living
You might also be surprised to learn that being single is expensive. For example, you might find that your auto insurance is more expensive as a single person, and there’s the fact that you may not be sharing the expenses of housing with anyone else. While you may be excited to be free of your former marriage, make sure to have a financial plan to keep you afloat after such a stressful process, especially if you have debt.
Think it through
Divorce is never easy, but if you choose to dissolve your marriage later in life, there may be more complications than you think. Financial planning is paramount, and it’s always wise to go over your assets early and often.
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