The end of any marriage is a trying situation, but there are several challenges that occur when a long-term marriage ends. Considering some of the more common things that you’ll need to address might help you to plan for the split.
One of the issues that come with divorces after a long marriage is that the couples often have to divide up considerable assets and debts. This can become complex, especially if there are things like retirement accounts in the marriage.
Unique financial challenges
The financial challenges that come with a divorce after a long-term marriage are sometimes hard to cope with. This is because the individuals don’t have as much time for rebuilding their finances. Instead, they have to split up the assets that were meant to support one home during retirement. This means that they’ll have a lot less for each home.
Deeper emotional turmoil
Even when a person is ready to end the marriage, they may still have a lot of emotions to work through during and after the divorce. It surprises some people that they may feel grief. The key here is that they have to realize that they aren’t just ending a marriage, they’re losing the person with whom they have the most shared history, adult children, grandchildren and friends.
If you’re ending a long-term marriage, you should ensure that you know your options for handling every aspect of the split. Make sure that you’re doing what’s best for your needs now and into the future. For many, trying to work together through mediation to come up with the terms of the divorce helps them to get the settlement they need while preserving an amicable relationship that benefits everybody in the future.