Considerations for the “Gray Divorce”

My good friend and collaborative colleague, Tracy Stewart, CPA, recently wrote an article that was published in the Chicago Tribune about considerations in a “Gray Divorce.” More and more, those of us who handle divorce are seeing couples who are over the age of 50 seeking a divorce. They have distinct needs to their age bracket, including how to manage financially until their largest asset, often their retirement and social security, begins to be paid to them. Very often, if the husband is the larger breadwinner and the wife only returned to the workforce after the children were grown, the wife may not have the ability to “grow” her own retirement and will be totally or in large part dependent on the portion of her husband’s retirement that they agree to be awarded to her in the divorce. In addition, if the husband is the larger breadwinner, there are issues of cash flow until the wife can share in the husband’s retirement, so contractual alimony, which can give the husband a tax write-off, can also be a tool that can be considered in the collaborative divorce. Often, for a number of reasons, the wife will not qualify for “court-ordered” alimony, but if the parties, working with a neutral financial collaborative professional, look at alimony as an option, it may create cash flow that otherwise the couple would never think of. Collaborative Law enables the couple to explore options that the court simply does not have time or sometimes the statutory ability to consider. If you or someone you know is considering divorce, ask to them look at Collaborative Law.

To read the entire article and other comments Tracy had for individuals over 50 who want to protect their retirement savings during a divorce, head over to the syndicated column in the northern California paper, the Contra Costa Times.

Camille Milner is a collaborative divorce lawyer, who practices in Denton, Sanger, Highland Village, Flower Mound, Argyle, Frisco, Lewisville, and Carrollton. To schedule an appointment, call 940-383-2674.