Pictured: Nicky Gough
Nicky Gough of Cotswold Family Law looks at the rising trend of
divorce in the over 60's.
"There were several articles in the press recently about the
latest divorce figures suggesting that the only reported rise in
the divorce rate is amongst the 60+ age range. This doesn't
necessarily mean that this is the most popular age for divorce,
merely that there is a new trend, the numbers of those over 65
getting divorced is certainly increasing but in my view the most
common age for divorce remains mid-late 40's."
"This may be because younger people have never married in the
first place, with short-term relationships or marriages there are
often no children or few assets to argue over - it is only when
there are children, pensions, property, mortgages and all the other
aspects of aging and longer relationships that separation becomes
more complicated."
"So why more divorces amongst the over 65? Is this simply an
aspect of us all living longer and having higher expectations of
our retirement? We are no longer prepared to simply settle down
with our partner of the last 20-30 years, we may decide that the
prospect of possibly 20 years with your current partner and no work
as a diversion is simply too much to bear."
"It can though come as a shock to anyone expecting to retire on
a comfortable pension to suddenly find themselves faced with a
Divorce Petition which will involve sharing that pension and
possibly selling the matrimonial home and looking at either
down-sizing or taking out a mortgage when you least expected it.
There are some advantages though to divorce so late, children are
generally grown up, possibly even left university, you are no
longer responsible for them in any way, you no longer have to
provide a 'family home' in the traditional sense. But however old
they may be, children still feel the impact and possible pain of
their parents' separation. They may have left home but they would
like the possibility of returning to what was their childhood home
intact, and also what about the grandchildren?"
"While only 5% of divorcees are amongst the over 65's, the rate
of disengagement is growing fast."
Nicky concludes: "Divorce for the retired certainly has
different aspects to a separation where there are young children,
mortgages to pay and a career to establish - but similar principles
apply. Far better to separate constructively and collaboratively
than incur unnecessary legal costs with stressful arguments through
the courts. One expenditure, which is hard to avoid however, is an
actuarial report. Pensions obviously loom large in post-retirement
separation and a proper actuarial value of your pension is
essential. You will not only want to look at its actual cash value,
but also projected incomes going forward for both the male and the
female, with their different life expectations they will need
different pension pots to produce similar incomes. Never has
professional advice in relation to pensions been so important."
For more information and advice on any of these points please
contact Nicky Gough Cotswold Family Law at
info@cotswoldfamilylaw.co.uk or telephone 01608 686590.