After being married for decades, you may have felt that you understood your life's and your relationship's ups and downs. Over time, you may have simply accepted annoyances or unhealthy habits that manifested in your marriage and continued to show themselves often. Even though you no longer felt happy, you had gotten used to the arrangement.
However, you may have recently come to the realization that you do not have to stay in an unhappy situation. Even though you have reached retirement age, you could still have many years ahead of you to live your best life. As a result, you may have found yourself looking for information on divorce. While this step may allow you to free yourself from an unhappy and unhealthy situation, you may want to have an awareness of the potential risks.
Financial impacts
Some of the biggest issues that can come along with a later-in-life divorce relate to finances. You may think that because you have lived comfortably until this point that you should have the ability to do so after divorce. After all, you will only have to address your needs rather than your personal needs and the needs of your spouse. However, if you live on a limited retirement fund, you may not have as much as you think, especially if your retirement accounts get divided during the divorce.
If you hope to obtain some of your soon-to-be ex's Social Security benefits, you may have that chance even after divorce. However, you must meet certain criteria, such as having reached the age of 62 or older and having an ex who qualifies for Social Security benefits. Additionally, if you could receive such benefits on your own, your benefit amount would have to come in lower than that of your ex.
Personal impacts
When considering divorce as an older person, the main driving point may be the idea that you can live your life more freely. While this certainly could happen, you may also want to remember that the financial impacts could affect your personal choices moving forward as a single person. However, this does not necessarily have to stop you from filing for divorce.
If you feel that ending the marriage could work in your best interests but financial concerns leave you hesitant, you may wish to discuss your options with a legal professional. Obtaining assistance could allow you to better understand how to go about potentially achieving beneficial divorce settlement terms that leave you in a positive financial position.
