Divorce advice for seniors


As reported by RetirementHomes.com recently, Some results of the 2011 Canadian census are being released, and some of the details included, as expected, a rapid growth in the number of Baby Boomers and seniors, as well as a boom in the number of nursing care and assisted living communities across Canada.

Another piece of senior-related data is the increasing number of divorces among Boomers and seniors.

As reported in the Globe & Mail newspaper, the census found that there were nearly 5,000 divorces in 2008 among couples with at least one partner age 65 or older.

Experts say that divorce and separation in older age can pose many more challenges to former couples than divorce among younger couples.

Divorces can be very costly, and for people in their 30s and 40s, there are still decades before their retirement. But for a 65 year-old, a loss of tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees, plus the splitting up of assets, can be a big blow to their retirement plans.

“It’s important to manage budgets and expenses quite thoroughly. Understand where your money is going, where your money is coming from,” Tina Di Vito with the Bank of Montreal told the newspaper.