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Divorce and your future wealth – or lack thereof

If you and your spouse in Maryland have made the hard choice to end your marriage, you know that now it is time to turn your attention to the logistics of untangling your lives. The experience of getting divorced touches every fiber of a person’s life and the outcome of the final divorce settlement can have a major influence on their future life and lifestyle.

It is not uncommon for one or both spouses to experience some changes to their manner of living after getting divorced. This makes sense given that assets are generally split. Any debt shared by you and your spouse may also be parsed out between the two of you. However, the impact of a divorce on your daily life and your financial future might be greater than you think based on some research conducted at Bowling Green State University. It even turns out that the age at which you divorce may play a role in this.

A person’s standard of living was found to take a nosedive after a gray divorce, the term used to describe a divorce in which the spouses are over 50. For men, this decline was by 21% but for women it was even greater at 45%. Overall wealth for both genders was noted to decline by 50%.

If you would like to learn more about how you might best protect yourself and your financial future when you and your spouse are getting a divorce, please feel free to visit the financial property division page of our Maryland family law and divorce website.

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