Gray Divorce – What Is It and Why Does It Matter?
At best, a typical divorce with an Atlanta divorce lawyer can take anywhere from two to five years in the court system, depending on how congested the local court happens to be with the caseload.
According to divorce attorneys in Atlanta, gray divorce – or the state of divorcing your spouse in your 50s can be more complicated compared to normal divorce cases.
Difficulties Common in Gray Divorce
Key factors common in gray divorce center around age and how people will take care of themselves in later years.
An Atlanta gray divorce attorney will review retirement assets, pensions, income sources, and how to split apart plans, assuming the two partners would be together into their senior years without a divorce.
The assumption that a safety net would always be present no longer seems so certain. There may not be enough for the cost of living going forward even if split evenly. The reality of needing to work longer becomes a fear as well.
Age Makes a Difference
Aside from the simple fact that people accumulate more as they age, especially if they stay put and live in the same location for decades, divorce in one’s later years comes with a tremendous amount of emotional and memory baggage as well.
Further, partners have intertwined finances and life involvement for longer years too.
No matter how many divorce lawyers in Atlanta websites you consult for fast processing – resolving each aspect takes time, details, and loss of separation.
Lifestyle Considerations
Lifestyles change with divorce at any age, but it becomes much more pronounced in one’s later years. A house assumed to be available into senior years will likely lose, sell, and split apart.
Apartment or condo living may be a reality instead. Alimony payments will likely become a reality as well for the partner with the majority of income potential and, unlike younger divorce cases, the alimony could last much longer with less chance of remarriage in the future.
Health impacts and medical coverage will become more expensive as well as couples can no longer share the same health plan going forward.
A separate liability and taxes will have to take effect as well, which can be a shock for those who didn’t have to deal with these responsibilities before, relying on a partner to manage them.
Business Ownership
While a business doesn’t have to end due to a divorce, managing it together with emotions running high can be challenging and may not work.
Partners could end up working against each other to run the business, which will create conflicts in operations and confuse the employees involved.
In many cases, one of the spouses may bring out or shift to being a silent partner to provide effective management of the business.
Established arrangements are an added aspect of a divorce closure. Utilizing an Atlanta gray divorce financial planning attorney like the Fuller Law Group helps with correct business steps forward.
Retirement
Accounts for retirement such as pensions earned during marriage tend to be community property in most states that have such laws. Thus, both partners have a vested interest in the account.
Accounts earned before marriage are possible, depending on the case arguments. 401ks, Roth accounts, and other Individual Retirement Accounts are part of community property value also.
Separated partners now have to consider how to re-plan their retirement funds and costs post-divorce.
Preparation
Divorces generally involve a wait and rush situation. Many months go by filing paperwork, depositions and hearings, filings, declarations, and more hearings.
For some couples, a financial separation may occur earlier, which in effect is a bit like a trial run divorce, but they are still married; it provides a defining point when finances are separate going forward to stop further shared financial obligations only.
All the work culminates in a divorce trial that processes all the previous work into a final court decision and divorce decree with the related separation details executed in writing.
Gray Divorce Attorney in Atlanta GA
As a dedicated gray divorce attorney in Atlanta GA, the Fuller Law Group can help.
We’ve supported hundreds of ex-spouses in their 50s and older navigating through divorce.