An Amicable Senior Divorce

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

These days, there is a growing divorce rate among seniors as people live longer. And when seniors divorce, they confront different problems compared to the younger ones. Younger couples usually focus on visitation and child support issues while these are some considerations for a senior divorce:

· Life Insurance – is there a policy?

· House – seniors usually have more home value than young couples. Sometimes, they even own more than one home.

· Retirement benefits – do the beneficiary need to be changed when one spouse has been relying on the other one’s retirement benefits?

· Health insurance – typically, one spouse is relying on the health insurance of the other.

Since these issues may be expensive to litigate and complicated to deal with, a mediator can help facilitate an amicable settlement and sort through these issues. They can also work them in a less contentious and cheaper way than bringing it to court. These mediators can meet with the couple and allow a discussion in a non-confrontational manner. The common goal is to address both spouses’ interest and produce an agreed settlement.

Remember that some attorney’s can also function as mediators. They may not necessarily bring the case to court if not needed. Once a mediated agreement has been signed, it only needs to be filed in court and is considered binding.

Tags: attorneys, Divorce, health insurance, house, life insurance, mediation, mediator, retirement benefits, Senior Divorce, seniors
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