Three Unique Challenges of Gray Divorce in Illinois

 Posted on February 08, 2022 in Family Law

Statistics suggest that more couples than ever are getting divorced later in life. While many couples still divorce when they have young children, there is an increasing number of couples who get divorced after their children leave the home. Known colloquially as “gray divorce,” these couples are over age 55 and have often already retired.

Without child support and parenting agreement issues, gray divorces are less complicated in some ways. Yet the long-term financial entanglement of spouses presents some unique challenges that younger couples often do not have to deal with. Here are three things that can complicate a couple’s financial picture and make the divorce process more difficult. 

Inheritance and Individual Property

By the time a couple has reached age 55, either partner’s parents may have passed away and left that partner an inheritance. Whether the inheritance is money, property, or invaluable sentimental items, it is generally not considered marital property. However, commingling non-marital property with marital property, such as placing inherited funds in a joint bank account, can cause inheritance to become marital property. Separating marital from non-marital property can prove quite challenging when it comes to an inheritance that was received many years before the divorce. 

Retirement Plans

Couples who have been married for 20 or 30 years have often been married for their entire careers. When it comes to dividing retirement plans and pensions, these accounts may have accumulated significant value. How retirement accounts are divided can vary; couples may use a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) that allows divorced spouses to receive payments directly from the pension’s manager, or they may instead want to trade the value of other marital assets and avoid splitting payments altogether. Couples would be wise to get help from qualified financial professionals, in addition to great divorce attorneys, who can help them through this transition. 

Alimony

Known in Illinois as “spousal maintenance,” alimony is often awarded indefinitely when a couple has been married more than 20 years, especially if one spouse was a homemaker while the other spouse worked. Life insurance may be required so that if the spouse paying spousal maintenance dies, the spouse receiving spousal maintenance is not disadvantaged financially through no fault of their own. 

Meet with a DuPage County Gray Divorce Lawyer

Understanding the implications of getting divorced later in life is essential for moving smoothly through your divorce and preparing yourself for your future. The skilled Hinsdale, IL gray divorce attorneys with Law Office of Martoccio & Martoccio have helped many couples divorce after retirement or other major life changes and you may also benefit from their experience and representation. Call the offices of Law Office of Martoccio & Martoccio today at 630-920-8855 to schedule a free case review. 

Source: 

https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs4.asp?DocName=075000050HPt%2E+IV&ActID=2086&ChapterID=59&SeqStart=3900000&SeqEnd=5400000