For many Americans, the divorce rate has been falling for some time. It did spike in the 1970s, largely due to the introduction of no-fault divorce laws. These laws made divorce easier and increased its prevalence. However, that was a short-term spike, and the rate has been declining since then.
However, statistics show that this trend is only true for certain age groups. If you are under 45 years old, for instance, you are part of the age group with a falling divorce rate. But if you are over 65 years old, your divorce rate has tripled in recent years because gray divorce is on the rise.
Entering a new stage in life
There are a wide variety of reasons why more couples are getting divorced at this age. Part of it is just the erosion of the social stigma surrounding divorce. Some couples may not have felt comfortable getting divorced decades ago, even though they wanted to, and now it feels like a viable option.
But it is not just society that has changed. Older couples are also entering a different stage in life. Parents may become empty nesters. Couples may get closer to retirement. They may simply have much different ideas about how they want to approach this new stage in life and what they want it to look like. In some cases, the best way forward is to get divorced so that they can each follow their own dreams for the future.
Financial complexities
In some ways, gray divorces are simpler because child custody issues do not come up. But they can also be much more complex from a financial perspective when dealing with business ownership, investments, retirement accounts and similar assets. Couples who are going through a divorce must know what legal rights they have.
