New York Family Law Blog

People who are engaged in New York usually imagine themselves getting married and then staying that way till death do they part. The reality is that, sometimes, divorce cannot be avoided. In fact, in some situations, spouses end up breaking up when they are near their golden years. Here is a glimpse at what people can do to protect themselves financially if they decide to get divorced over the age of 50.

First, older individuals going through the divorce process may benefit from conducting cash-flow analyses right away. These analyses will show them how much money they will be bringing in every month, following the divorce versus before the divorce. With this information, they can effectively determine if they should trim their expenses and/or increase their earnings to stay in the positive financially, after getting divorced.

According to researchers, fewer people are getting divorced today than in years past in New York and other parts of the United States. Still, divorce is unavoidable in many circumstances and for various reasons. Based on recent research, two common reasons for divorce today are the absence of quality premarital counseling and differences in belief systems.

These two factors apparently play a role in around 13 percent of today's divorces. Regarding premarital counseling in particular, survey participants acknowledged that premarital counseling does not provide all of the education that couples need to make a marriage work. For instance, although counseling sessions usually provide education on communication as well as resolving conflict, they do not cover the different phases of a marital union that couples can expect to go through over time.

Ending a marriage can understandably be a nerve-wracking process, whether two spouses are affluent or earn a modest living. However, a person with high-value assets in New York clearly has more to lose if the outcome of the divorce is not in his or her favor. Here is a glimpse at a couple of things that make high-asset divorces different from regular divorces.

For starters, the kinds of assets that a couple must divide usually differ between an affluent couple's and an ordinary couple's divorce. For instance, the wealth of many affluent people is in stocks rather than cash. Part of the reason for this is that receiving lucrative stock options at quickly growing companies is becoming increasingly popular.

Some couples in New York may be contemplating getting divorced in the new year. Still, even if a couple chooses to go through divorce, the process does not necessarily have to be hostile. A couple of tips may help a divorcing couple to make their marital breakup as amicable as possible.

First, the two parties will likely be better off trying to work together versus seeking revenue because revenge generally is not important to divorce courts. Sometimes spouses who have been cheated on might submit pictures in court that show that the other party cheated. They might even use private investigators to help them to put together evidence. Still, courts likely will not care about these details unless the cheating spouses damaged the family finances by spending a great deal of money on their affairs.