35 Year Itch: Divorce rates rise for ‘silver separators’

Everyone has heard of the 7-year-itch – that period in a marriage when the novelty has worn off and the pressures of a growing family take their toll. This is traditionally the time when a relationship is most likely to break down.

But now there is a rising tendency for older couples who have been married for many years to split up. Your children have flown the nest. Retirement is looming, or newly arrived, and you have to readjust to having just your spouse for company. This is the time to grasp new opportunities and reassess what you want out of life, especially with life expectancy on the increase and a rapidly expanding Third Age scene to be enjoyed. In more and more cases, that reassessment includes a new start away from the partner with whom you have spent half a lifetime or more.

With fewer couples choosing to getting married at all, the overall rate of divorce has gradually fallen since 1991. As attitudes towards marriage and divorce change in couples over 60, so called ‘silver separators’ are the exception to that trend. There has been a massive 73% increase in men over 60 getting divorced since 1991 and figures for women of the same age are similar, – often after being married for 30-35 years.

Disentangling your lives after a long marriage, can be traumatic and difficult. Getting divorced later in life raises particular concerns – about pensions, life expectancy, and inheritance, to name but a few.

At Andrew Isaacs Solicitors, we understand that. We can make sure that you have the legal advice and help that you need, whatever your age, and however complicated your circumstances. We will be with you every step of the way to guide you through your divorce, so that you can move on with your life.