Cook County Divorce Attorneys For Older Couples Nearing Retirement

Lawyers Helping Spouses Over the Age of 50 Resolve Divorce Issues in Oak Park and Skokie

During your divorce case, you will need to resolve a wide variety of legal issues, and these matters can seem especially overwhelming if you are 50 years old or more. If you have been married for many years, determining how to separate the areas of your life that have become closely connected with your spouse can be a complicated undertaking. In addition, you will want to be sure that you will have the financial resources you need as you approach retirement age, and it is important to work with a skilled attorney to ensure that your rights are protected.

The divorce lawyers at Wakenight & Associates, P.C. have more than 95 total years of combined legal experience. We are prepared to help you manage the avalanche of financial issues and legal disputes that you are facing, and we will work with you to reach a positive outcome to your case.

Divorce Issues For Spouses Over Age 50

Some of the legal issues that spouses will need to address during a grey divorce include: 

• Division of marital property - A couple is likely to acquire a substantial amount of property over the course of a marriage, and determining how to equitably divide this property can be difficult. In addition to the marital home and the physical possessions owned by the spouses, all financial assets must be divided, including retirement funds or pensions, as well as any business interests owned by either spouse. Decisions about the division of assets may be affected by a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement between the spouses.
• Older children - Child custody is often less of a concern in a grey divorce, but matters related to children may still need to be resolved. Parents of teenagers may be worried about how to pay for children's college expenses and their divorce settlement should specify each parent's obligations for these costs. In addition, parents will often pay some or all of the costs for their adult children's weddings, and they may wish to ensure that their divorce decree contains provisions for how these expenses will be divided between them.
• Spousal support - Spousal maintenance may be awarded, depending on the income earned by the spouses and a variety of other factors. The duration that maintenance payments will last will depend on the length of the marriage; for marriages of 20 years or more, maintenance may be awarded for the full length of the marriage, or it may last indefinitely. This can be a major concern for those who are nearing retirement age. A spouse who is required to pay alimony may be unsure about their ability to support themselves after retirement, and those who expect to receive spousal support may be concerned about how their ex-spouse's retirement will affect support payments. In these cases, our attorneys can help you address these issues and ensure that your financial needs will be met following your divorce. 
• Social Security - When a person reaches retirement age, they may be eligible to receive Social Security benefits based on their ex-spouse's earnings during their career, as long as they were married for at least 10 years and have not gotten remarried.
• Life insurance - A person will typically be required to have a life insurance policy that will cover the amount of their spousal maintenance or child support obligations. For those over the age of 50, these policies can be expensive, so it is important to consider how this will affect other financial decisions made during divorce.
• Health insurance - Married couples are often able to take advantage of a family health insurance plan through one spouse's employer. Following divorce, a person who is no longer covered under their ex-spouse's plan may need to obtain private insurance coverage, and the costs of a health insurance policy can be prohibitive for someone over the age of 50. These expenses should be taken into account when making financial decisions during divorce.

Contact a Cook County Grey Divorce Lawyer

You deserve to be happy, healthy, and financially stable as you approach your twilight years, and if you have chosen to move on from an unhappy marriage, we can help you resolve your legal issues and reach an outcome that will allow you to thrive. We will help you understand your rights, address your financial concerns, and ensure that you are prepared to support yourself in the years to come. To schedule a free consultation with our skilled family law attorneys, contact us at 708-480-9651. We represent divorcing spouses in Oak Park, Chicago, Berwyn, Skokie, River Forest, Elmwood Park, Maybrook, Cicero, Forest Park, and throughout Cook County.