‘Gray Divorces’ are Trending as Baby Boomers Reach Financial Security

If you have reached a point in your marriage where things are irreconcilable, you may be planning on divorcing your husband. There is a lot to do to go from this decision to the final dissolution of the marriage. You need to make a petition for divorce that is filed with the help of a divorce attorney. You might also want to have a separation agreement in place in the meantime while the divorce is being filed and processed.

There are a lot of papers that you need to sign, and many more decisions that need to be made. You might think of a statement originally made outside of court and want that as a part of your final agreement. This time may feel overwhelming, but divorce lawyers are there to make things easier and offer the support you need.

Divorce is highly common today, with almost half of all marriages ending in divorce. If you are considering it, try to make as many decisions with your spouse as you can to keep the overall cost of the divorce low. Save on legal fees where you can to lessen the financial impact.

People of all ages get divorced. If you decide after separation when to divorce, you should hire a divorce lawyer to help you through the process. This should be done no matter what the personal feelings are between the former spouses. You may have agreed divorce papers are necessary, but you might not agree on exactly what should happen after. By using lawyers, you can make sure that things are done within the law. You can also try to make things as fair as possible for both spouses, providing them with what they need.

Divorce is part of family law. Since divorce can involve a lot of different things, it is important that you know what to expect. A lawyer can help you figure out alimony money, custody, and anything else that needs to be split due to the divorce. Once you submit the amended petition for dissolution of marriage, you’ll want the process completed as efficiently as possible. A good lawyer will be able to get things done quickly, legally, and with the best results possible.

We all understand the storm of emotions within the context of “Fifty Shades of Gray,” but what about a gray divorce?

More and more this is a term that lawyers and divorce courts alike are using to account for the rising and unprecedented number of divorces among baby boomers.

As boomers reach retirement age, they finally find themselves with the financial stability and means of independence to facilitate a divorce.

The baby boomer generation is loosely defined as individuals born between the late 1940s and the early 1960s. Many of these individuals got married at a young age during the 70s, had children, and settled into careers and family roles soon after.

For a couple experiencing turmoil, this trajectory left little financial wiggle room for a casual divorce.

“In my practice, I’m seeing more and more clients who have been married for over twenty years,” says Ken Phillips, Partner, Law Office of Kenneth J. Phillips. “A couple married this long are deeply intertwined on many levels and it is time consuming and complicated to get them divorced, even if they maintain a certain level of trust and communication. One of the relatively new options is the availability of collaborative divorce, where couples, even ones with more difficult situations, work together with their attorneys and other certified professionals. The process is often faster, cheaper and less emotionally destructive than the traditional method of doing everything through the courts.”

But now that these individuals have aged, many of these couples are cashing in their retirements, untying the proverbial knot, and breaking out even.

According to a study conducted by Bowling Green State University, about one quarter of all divorce proceedings were filed by individuals aged 55 and older.

So what caused this major shift in divorce filings? Perhaps the gray divorce trend can be attributed to the differing values of the baby boomer generation as opposed to modern values.

Today, individuality and personal pursuit is considered a right and a passage. In contrast, the baby boomer’s mantra was very much “sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice”.

Now, these graying but enthusiastic divorcees are very much ready to seize the day of singledom.

Since many of these divorcing couples have dual incomes, surviving solo doesn’t seem so far fetched anymore. Paired with increased rates of life expectancy, more and boomers are choosing to enjoy the rest of their lives solo.