Women who have relied on their husbands to make the financial decisions in their marriages may encounter problems should the marriage dissolve after many years. In Arizona and elsewhere, not only could gray divorce — or divorce after the age of 50 — mean a significant loss of income, it could also spell the need for some, mostly women, to learn to manage finances on their own. In fact, more than 55 percent of married women leave the financial aspects of their marriages to their husbands.
The women who are unaware of the financial part of their marriages become cognizant not only of the problems but of the positives of their finances when their marriages fizzle. Perhaps they didn’t know about a retirement plan their spouse set up or a trust fund or other hidden asset gems. Women 50 or older who are divorcing are often forced into having to deal with these sorts of monetary issues, and reports show in the long run they believe that to have been a good thing.
Not-so-good surprises women found were debt they didn’t know about, spending their spouses didn’t want them to know about, and secret bank accounts. Wills that were outdated was also surprising. A survey that asked divorced and widowed women who had remarried about the financial aspects of their current marriages showed that eight out of 10 were more involved with making decisions regarding finances the second time around.
Divorce may be especially difficult for people past the age of 50, regardless of gender. Having the legal counsel of a compassionate Arizona lawyer may be helpful for those moving forward as singles armed with good advice about the divorce process. An attorney may be able to shed light on the sometimes complicated divorce process.
Source: bloomberg.com, “Rise of ‘Gray’ Divorce Forces Financial Reckoning After 50“, Suzanne Woolley, April 13, 2018
