While the overall divorce rate in the United States has declined over the past few decades, it has actually increased for one demographic: people over the age of 50. In these cases, which are commonly known as “gray divorces,” there is a wide variety of complex issues that spouses will need to consider as they legally dissolve their marriage, including determining how to divide marital property. This can be a major concern for those who are close to retirement age or who have already retired since they will need to determine how to maintain financial stability so they can support themselves once their divorce is complete. However, no matter your age, retirement savings and benefits are an important issue to address during the property division process in Ohio.

Dividing Retirement Accounts and Pension Benefits

Marital assets include any money or property earned or acquired by either spouse after they were married and before they were legally separated, and these assets must be divided as equally as possible between spouses during an Ohio divorce. If a retirement account such as a 401(k) or IRA was created during a couple’s marriage, or if contributions were made to an account while the spouses were married, this account will typically be considered marital property. Likewise, if a spouse worked in a pension-eligible position while married, his or her pension benefits will be subject to division between the spouses.

The divorce process includes a number of different areas that must be addressed before your marriage can be legally dissolved. This includes the division of assets, spousal support (alimony) determinations, and perhaps most importantly, drafting a parenting plan for your children. Building a parenting plan and creating “rules” for you and your former spouse can feel uncomfortable, and you may need to resolve a variety of disagreements. It is likely that you each have slightly different parenting styles and differing opinions on how to handle situations that come up involving your children. These discrepancies can be easier to discuss and manage as a married couple, but they may not be so easy to address and resolve once the divorce papers are signed. During your divorce, you will need to formulate a legal parenting plan that addresses how you and your co-parent will deal with child-related situations, work together to raise your children, and resolve any disagreements that may arise.

Specific Issues to Address

A typical parenting plan will include larger details, such as the parenting time (visitation) schedule and each parent’s rights and responsibilities for making decisions about how children will be raised, but it will also hammer out minor details. Below are some of the issues that the Ohio family court system allows you to address to make sure that your parenting plan fits your family’s needs:

The divorce process involves a variety of decision-making steps, all of which are meant to be permanent. In certain cases, you may be able to decide how to divide your assets, when you will spend time with your children, and how much (if any) you or your spouse will receive in financial support. The permanence of these decisions can add another layer of stress onto each prospective ex-spouse. You may be thinking, "How can I make decisions for my future when I do not even know what it will look like?" Although a divorce decree is meant to be permanent, there is some leeway. The terms of your divorce may be modified, if necessary, with the help of a skilled attorney.

Post-Divorce Modifications

Changes made after the completion of a divorce are typically tied to finances or parenting issues. Spousal maintenance is determined by comparing both spouses’ incomes and factoring in your lifestyles. In some cases, you or your ex-spouse could endure a large pay cut or lose your job, possibly warranting an increase or decrease in the amount of spousal support payments. Similarly, if one of you receives a raise or gets a job after being unemployed, the amount of spousal support could be adjusted, or it could be terminated altogether. Because finances and income can change greatly throughout your life, it is important to understand that the number you decide on in court is not set in stone if there is a significant change in circumstances.

Dividing marital property and assets can be one of the most contentious parts of divorce proceedings. Some divorcing couples can agree on how to divide their assets, while others argue over every decision made during the property division process. Seeing the life that you built with your former spouse be split up between the two of you can be difficult. Deciding who gets to keep the marital home can be a tough task, both emotionally and financially. It is often assumed that one spouse will take the house while the other party finds another place to live. This may be one of the most common arrangements, but there are various ways that an experienced divorce attorney can work with both spouses to find a solution that benefits everyone.

What Are My Options?

There are three basic ways that the marital home can be evenly “divided” between spouses in an Ohio divorce. These decisions can vary depending on the spouses’ emotional connection to the home, their financial investment in the house, and whether or not they wish to raise their children there. The means by which the house will be divided can be determined by the divorcing couple, with the help of their attorneys, to ensure that the arrangement is fair for both sides. The arrangements may include:

You may be surprised to learn that the Holmes-Rahe Stress Inventory considers divorce the second-most stressful life event that a person can experience. Disagreements regarding property division, child custody, child support, and spousal support can be especially burdensome. If you are planning to divorce, you should know that there are ways you can mitigate the stress and complication of ending your marriage. Avoiding the following mistakes is one of the easiest ways to do so.

Financial Short-Sightedness

Understandably, many people getting divorced are more focused on the personal effects of the split rather than the financial implications. However, divorce will have a major impact on your finances, making it crucial to be educated about your options. Avoid the mistake of only considering the short-term consequences of your financial decisions during divorce. For example, many people wish to retain the family home because of its personal significance to them. However, keeping a home which has an expensive mortgage or requires high maintenance costs may be too much for a recently-divorced person to manage on their own.  

Retaliatory Actions Against Your Spouse

It is safe to assume that most divorces involve a certain degree of hostility. Many divorces are the result of an affair, lies about finances, drug/alcohol addictions, or simply the breakdown of a relationship. It is completely understandable for those in the middle of a divorce to experience a wide range of emotions. However, taking retaliatory action against your spouse will only create further complications. Purposely doing things to upset or harm your spouse can affect decisions about property division, child custody, and many other aspects of your divorce.