If you are considering a divorce, call our family law office to schedule a consultation to discuss your situation.  Every couple and family is unique and so is their divorce. While it may only take a day to get married, getting divorced can take months and is far more complicated.  While it is common to think that divorcing couples are typically younger, there is a rising trend among the over fifty crowd to get a divorce.  If you are in this category, we recommend seeking guidance since it can be more complicated than it seems.

In those over fifty, we have found that it typically isn’t a monumental event that triggers divorce but simply a desire to bring the relationship to a close.  If you and your spouse are getting along but don’t want to be married, you may be able to resolve your divorce through mediation.  This is often a good solution for those over fifty, especially if you have been together for a long time and know how to compromise with each other.  Mediation is a non-binding method for reaching an agreement on how to divide assets and debts.  Since it is non-binding, there is no real risk of trying mediation.  Each party attends with their attorney and negotiates back and forth until a solution is reached.  Very often, small things like household furniture are divided first.  Then you can move onto the cars, homes, bank accounts, etc.  The benefit of mediation is that you can focus on what you can agree on first. This can allow you both to get into the spirit of compromise which can often help in resolving some of the larger issues.

When you do reach an agreement, those items will be written up in a document that each party can sign.  If there are things that you can’t agree on, you can try mediation a second time or have them decided by a judge in court.  As a family law office, we can represent you both in mediation and in the courtroom so that regardless of how the divorce plays out, we can help you to get through it.

One issue that the fifty and older crowd often struggle with is how to divide retirement assets.  Regardless of whether one spouse was working or both, this can be a complicated issue.  Even if the account is in one persons’ name, there is a case to be made that the account was possible due to the support of the other party.  We can review all of your assets and your retirement accounts in order to make a recommendation as to the best way to divide them.  If you have liquid assets that can be used to buy one party out of the retirement accounts, it can be easier.  If not, we may have to come up with a creative way for how to distribute payments down the road.  Regardless of how complex your financial situation is, we can help you to sort through it in our family law office.