Studies have shown that younger people are divorcing less often than they have in the past, and divorce rates have been steadily dropping since the peak in the 1980s, but just over half of marriages still end in divorce. This is because while younger individuals are getting more selective about whom they marry and are marrying later in life, baby boomers are still divorcing at incredibly high rates.
Experts point to a number of reasons for people getting divorced later in life. Along with the fact that women are now firmly established in the workplace, many states have made it easier to divorce by lowering the requirements for doing so. As a result, while the number of people getting married is going down, large numbers of couples are still ending their marriage on a regular basis.
A Bowling Green University study determined that the rate of divorce for individuals between the ages of 55 to 64 more than doubled between 1990 and 2010. During that same time frame, the divorce rate for individuals at or over the age of 65 tripled.
Asset division is frequently a source of discord during a divorce, but during a divorce between two people who are approaching retirement, the issue can become even more contentious. Individuals who are older have less time to make up for lost retirement savings, and many will no longer be able to rely on joint savings or income to pay for living expenses after they are no longer working. In some cases, the parties and their respective family law attorneys are able to negotiate a property settlement agreement instead of having the matter determined by a judge.