Grey Divorce: Divorces of Spouses Over 50 years of Age
An emerging trend across the world is divorce among spouses who are over the age of 50. According to Molly Gormon in the BBC article, Was it all smoke and mirrors?: How adult children are affected by grey divorce, 25 September 2025, the statistics demonstrate that the age group with the largest increase in divorce is the grey divorce age group of 50 and over.
What should you consider if you are over 50 and considering divorce?
First, what is your relationship with your spouse? Is it acrimonious or are you amicably moving on with your lives in different directions? How the divorce is handled will greatly affect your relationship with your children even though they are adults.
Second, how were your finances handled? Did one spouse work while the other stayed home with the children? In a grey divorce, the spouse that stayed home would likely be entitled to alimony. However, one needs to consider in a grey divorce, that the divorce laws relating to alimony in Florida changed dramatically in 2023. It is now much easier to decrease or terminate alimony in a divorce based on the retirement of the paying spouse. In grey divorces this is a real consideration since the age of retirement is much closer than those who divorce much earlier in life.
Third, what are the assets of the marriage? In grey divorces, there could be substantial assets. In Florida, equitable distribution governs the division of assets which typically is 50/50. If there are substantial liquid assets, then the court may not award alimony even if a spouse stayed at home during the marriage. Of course, each grey divorce is unique and a detailed analysis of the lifestyle, income, assets and debts needs to be analyzed by a lawyer skilled in balancing these interests.
If you are spouse considering a grey divorce where you and your spouse are over 50 then you should call the lawyers at Filler Rodriguez, LLP at 305.876.3376 for a consultation.
