Important Factors to Consider When Pursuing Divorce After 50

The Sunk Cost Fallacy refers to the fallacious idea that just because you’ve invested a lot of time, money, or energy into something, you are bound to stick with it, no matter how bad things get. If there is one type of marriage which is  cost prone to this type of thinking, it’s those that involve couples over 50. In a way, it makes sense. You’ve expended so much time, money, and energy with someone, and don’t want all of that to have been “for nothing” in the end. What’s more, at 50 years of age or above, it can be tempting to wonder if divorce might mean the end of your hopes of finding and staying in a happy relationship.

However, the very fact that you’re seriously considering a divorce probably means that you don’t have a happy relationship in the first place. And now that your children have moved on with families of theirs own, finding the common ground to rebuild the relationship can be tough as well as breaking bad habits that may have been in place for decades. It can be done, and there are some great success stories of couples that manage to rekindle their flame, but if you have made the decision to file for divorce after 50 or what has also been called “empty nest divorce,” here’s what you need to know.

This guide can take you through the ins and outs of navigating a divorce when over 50. 

Another factor you’ll need to consider is health insurance. If you are both on the same plan, and indeed, if one of you gets health insurance from their job or is otherwise responsible for the healthcare of the other, you’ll need to resolve  that situation. If you are under 65, you are not yet eligible for Medicare, and so you will need to find another solution. Given the tumultuous nature of healthcare due to the broader healthcare debate raging across the country, this topic is very much in flux, so you’ll want to consult with your attorney and healthcare provider as to advice for your particular situation.

The Tax Situation

Last, but not least, when facing an empty nest divorce over 50, you’ll want to make sure that you properly dissever one another from your dependency status and account for that in your taxes. Because marital status can have an impact on your tax status, you’ll need to be very careful about being perfectly accurate about this, lest you accidentally declare your taxes incorrectly. 

With these factors in mind, your divorce attorney can help you move past the weight of the past, navigate your gray divorce and allow you to pursue a new beginning as smoothly as possible.

Financial Planning

To begin with, one of the first things you’ll want to take into consideration when looking into a divorce over 50, colloquially known as a gray divorce, is the financial ramifications of such a decision. 

If you have been married to someone for decades, chances are you have developed a decent amount of financial interdependence Severing those ties will likely be one of the most difficult, yet important, part of your divorce process. You’ll need to sit down with your attorney and – if things are still amicable enough – your partner to lay out the details of what financial independence for the two of you will look like. You’ll need to take into account things such as joint bank accounts and property holdings.