Many young couples discover early in their marriage that they are not compatible and divorce. Some long-time married couples don’t discover or acknowledge incompatibility until decades after they tie the knot. Divorce is always an option, and there are plenty of reasons a gray divorce works for many people.
1. Your kids are grown.
Some of the worst negotiations in a Michigan divorce belong to arguments about child custody and child support. When you’ve been married long enough to have adult children, these arguments are moot. The only question now is: Does someone need to pay spousal support?
2. You’re already retired.
Many couples in a gray divorce have retired and soon discover their goals for the rest of their lives do not mesh. While there will of course be money concerns about managing a household alone after working together for years, retirees are in a position where Social Security and pensions are already coming in. All you need to determine how to fairly divvy up your assets.
3. You can get a separate maintenance agreement.
Some couples want to divorce without losing some benefits of being married. Maintaining a connection might sound crazy to some, but a separate maintenance agreement makes it possible to settle major matters of a divorce without losing health insurance. Should a couple fully divorce, health benefits cannot be shared. Couples in a gray divorce may need each other to help them through a time of life when burgeoning health matters are difficult to avoid.
4. The world is yours.
No matter what age you are or where you live, if you have chosen to confidently end your marriage of many years, you have the rest of your life ahead of you. Go where your children and grandchildren are, or don’t. Go where you’ve always wanted to travel, or stay home. Move to another state, country, or continent, or get that cottage down the street you’ve always coveted. The opportunities after divorce are endless.
5. You’re mature enough to simplify the process.
No one ever said divorce is easy, and just because you’re older and wiser and may have raised children and navigated bumpy life happenings in your marriage, that doesn’t mean a gray divorce will happen smoothly. Your intertwined life with another person and both your assets will make decision-making difficult, however, you are also old enough to make the most of simpler and helpful divorce proceedings, like mediation.
Get Gray Divorce Help in Michigan
The most important thing to keep in mind is how much of an opportunity life has afforded you with this change in marital status. If you can keep your split amicable and achieve the opportunity to make decisions on your own that you’ve always wanted to make, you may come to recognize that your marriage was good while it lasted, but wow are you happy now.
Find out what’s possible for your future and whether it’s time for you to consider a gray divorce. Contact Michigan Divorce Help in Mt. Clemens, MI, to schedule your consultation and ask your questions.