Divorce is complex, regardless of when you decide to break it off. After years of marriage and wealth accumulation, however, it becomes much more complicated. If you have a high asset divorce in your retirement years, there are a lot of factors to consider that you may not have had as a younger couple.
According to the U.S. News, asset division and spousal support are two significant considerations after a long-term marriage.
Consider spousal support
Spousal support can occur in a gray divorce. Spousal support occurs when one person makes most of the income or supports the other spouse financially throughout the marriage. The spouse who made the majority of the wealth may have to continue supporting the other spouse’s lifestyle. At retirement age, either person will rarely be able to accumulate new wealth.
Prepare to divide the home and assets
If you do not have young children, you do not have to worry about one person remaining in the family home to continue to raise them. Instead, you must determine who wants to keep the property and whether you should sell and divide the profits. Sometimes, it makes sense to sell the property and buy two separate properties. However, if one of you has an attachment to the property, you can work out who should keep which property and what the other spouse should receive in negotiation.
Household goods, furniture and art collections are also considerations to make. If you have family heirlooms, you may want to give those to the person who brought them into the marriage.
If you have pets in the home, you also have to consider who should keep the animals full-time.