Gray divorces are divorces that take place when a couple is older than the typical divorce age range. When people get divorced after 40 or more years of marriage or they get divorced after age 50, their divorces fall into the gray divorce category. These divorces are often surprising to friends, family members, neighbors, and coworkers who often why they would stay married for so long only to get divorced later in life. While the divorce rate has dropped slightly in the past few years, statistics show that the divorce rate of baby boomers has actually doubled.
Salt Lake City divorce attorney, Emy Cordano has handled enough gray divorces to know that divorce happens at any age and there are some common reasons that people decide to get divorced a little later in life.
Eight common reasons for a gray divorce
- Sometimes children provide a buffer between unhappy or incompatible spouses and when they grow up and move out, couples realize they do not want to stay together.
- Couples sometimes wait to divorce until the children are gone so that they do not have to worry about things like shuffling kids between two houses and having to alternate spending birthdays and holidays with children.
- Sometimes a spouse stays in the marriage to protect children from an abusive or addict spouse.
- People’s values, personalities, goals, and dreams can change at any age and when it happens, their spouse may no longer fit into the picture.
- Divorce may be less complicated later in life because couples do not need each other to contribute to things like kids’ college and buying a house.
- When life slows down and distractions like building a career, traveling for work, and raising children are gone, people who have entered into the retirement years may suddenly realize how much extra time they have and that they just do not want to spend all of that extra time with their spouse.
- Lifestyle and activeness are often a factor. Sometimes one spouse ages much more quickly than the other spouse whether it is because they started out with an age difference or one spouse’s health is just better than the other spouse’s health. It can be hard to stay married to someone who wants to spend all of his or her time at home watching television while the other spouse wants to travel the world.
- Sometimes spouses see retirement on the horizon and they think about their parents who are still alive and healthy in their 80s and 90s. Then the realization hits that they have a lot of time left and spending that time in their marriage is not where they want to be.
If you are facing a gray divorce, contact Salt Lake City divorce attorney, Emy Cordano to schedule a consultation. There are a lot of things to consider when divorces occur later in life including retirement plans, other financial assets, and property. Our divorce team will work with you to see that your financial future and best interests are protected.