You and your spouse have probably set aside money for years to fund your retirement. Filing for divorce will inevitably impact those retirement savings. Some people have to spend money set aside for retirement to cover the cost of divorce.

Even those who can absorb divorce expenses without tapping into retirement savings will usually have to split retirement accounts and pensions. The community property laws in Texas give each spouse a claim to retirement savings and pension benefits accrued during the marriage.

When you file for divorce close to retirement age, you will want to be proactive about protecting your plan for retirement. Taking the two steps below will help you figure out an estimated budget for your post-divorce retirement.

It seems like winning is often the top priority for divorcing. Different people may define “winning” in their divorce as securing certain assets or certain terms for the custody of their shared children. However, securing a “win” in either of those areas may require a massive investment of both resources and time.

The more a couple fights over their property and custody terms, the more they end up paying for divorce. These protracted battles can also often do real damage to the relationship between former spouses, which can be problematic if they have to share custody as co-parents later.

More people every year turn to collaborative divorce as a way to truly win at divorce by keeping their costs low and securing the terms that matter the most to them.

Divorce has different implications at different times in your life. In your 20s or 30s, the biggest concern will probably be negotiating custody arrangements.In your 50s, with retirement looming and your children likely close to adulthood or already out of your home, your concerns will be very different.

There are steps that you can take now to help proactively prepare for a divorce if you are over the age of 50.

Get copies of financial and tax documents

The longer you have remained married, the more marital property you will have. Before you can form a realistic idea about the fairest way to split your property, you first have to look over those assets. Knowing what you acquired and earned during the marriage is very important.

Prenuptial agreements were once rare, but they have become common in modern marriages. Similarly, postnuptial agreements have also risen to prominence in recent years.

Like prenuptial agreements, postnuptial agreements involve spouses negotiating specific terms and committing them to a contract. However, people often address different issues, as years of marriage can give rise to multiple concerns.

People create postnuptial agreements for many reasons, like saving their marriage or avoiding a messy divorce. The goal may be to pave the way for a faster divorce in the next year or even to prevent divorce. Whatever the goal, there are certain issues that married couples often decide to address in their postnuptial agreements.

For many decades, it was for older adults to stay married until death do they part. Over time, divorce has become less taboo, and more people have turned to divorce at an older age.

The gray divorce revolution is a reference to the rising number of middle-aged and older adults who have turned to divorce instead of remaining with their spouse in later adulthood. While divorce rates have been declining overall, those 50 years of age and older have seen divorce rates in later life skyrocket. The rate of divorce has doubled for those over 50 and tripled for those over 65.

The gray divorce revolution is a reflection of changes in society