How Does Gray Divorce Affect Your Estate Planning?

Any major change in your life should warrant an update in your estate planning, and divorce is no exception.

Getting divorced later on in life can have a significant impact on your finances. Although it is certainly true that divorce can alter your finances at any age, it is extremely important to consider how you’ll split your assets and any impacts this may have on your estate, especially if you are part of a blended family or have adult children. Gray Divorce is a term used to describe the growing number of older couples who contemplate getting a divorce.

Getting divorced in your 50s, 60s or even 70s may dramatically alter not only your retirement plans and savings, but your overall financial and estate planning health. Meeting with a qualified financial adviser as soon as possible after deciding to get a divorce is a crucial first step in protecting your interests.

But you must from there go forward to meet with your estate planning attorney as well. If a substantial portion of your retirement or your estate planning strategy was based on being married to this person, and assets and properties you own together, you will need to make substantial changes to this plan in order to move forward.

Because there are so many potential alterations in your life at play with gray divorce, it is far better to work with an estate planning attorney and your financial advisor well in advance of actually filing for divorce. This gives you a good opportunity to plan for this transition and to avoid catastrophic financial consequences.

Meet with a Virginia Beach, VA estate planning lawyer to learn more about updating your plan to align with your new needs.