“Having a really good attorney and fighting for your fair share” is critically important to an equitable property division outcome in many so-called “gray” divorces in Pennsylvania and nationally, says an executive with a national family research organization.
It’s not hard to see why.
Gray divorce — another description for marital dissolution among comparatively older baby boomer couples — is a hot-button topic in family law these days. It is certainly understandable why that is the case, given the reported doubling of the divorce rate over the past quarter century for persons 50 and older.
What comes to the fore in many such separations are considerations regarding the equitable distribution of marital property. As noted in a recent New York Times article, that is often of central importance in gray divorces, owing to the fact that post-divorce life for many baby boomers begins during post-career years and after prime money-making decades have passed.
In Pennsylvania, a proven family law attorney with long-term experience dealing with property division matters can help a client determine, in the first instance, what qualifies as marital property subject to an equitable distribution between divorcing spouses. Following that determination, it is of highest importance that all such property be properly valuated.
As the Times article states, there are a number of asset sources that a divorcing spouse might overlook during the divorce process. That can be a costly mistake.
Such sources include things like deferred-compensation plans, company pensions, stock options and Social Security benefits.
Finding, valuing and fairly allocating all such assets is critical to an equitable divorce result. A central role of an experienced divorce attorney is helping to ensure that a property division outcome fully promotes a client’s best interests.
Source: The New York Times, “Retirement plans thrown into disarray by a divorce,” Constance Gustke, June 27, 2014
