TILL DEBT DO US PART: WHY MORE COUPLES ARE DIVORCING AFTER DECADES TOGETHER
Divorce later in life can involve much more than splitting the family home, with superannuation, investments, businesses, and retirement plans potentially at stake.
Divorce is often associated with younger couples starting over, but there is another group facing an increasingly complicated question: what happens when a marriage ends after 20, 30 or even 40 years together?
Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show divorces increased by 4.1 per cent in 2025, with the median age at divorce reaching 47.3 years for men and 44.4 years for women.
For couples separating in their 50s and 60s, the financial consequences can be particularly complicated. After decades together, finances are rarely as simple as deciding who gets the house and who keeps the car.
For couples who have spent years building careers, raising children and accumulating wealth, separating can mean unpicking an entire financial life.
When decades of wealth have to be untangled
By the time a couple reaches their 50s or 60s, they may have accumulated investment properties,
businesses, shares, superannuation, trusts, inheritances and other assets.
They may also have debts, financial arrangements involving adult children, and assets that have changed substantially in value since they were first acquired.
The challenge is not simply working out what a couple owns. It is understanding how those assets were acquired, what each person contributed over the course of the relationship and what the financial consequences of a proposed settlement might be.
Michael Tiyce, Principal at Tiyce & Lawyers Family Law Specialists, says superannuation can be particularly significant for couples approaching retirement.
Losing a substantial portion of super or other retirement assets at that stage of life can leave limited time to rebuild.
The family home can present a similar dilemma. Keeping the house may provide stability, but it could mean giving up other assets or leaving one person without enough accessible cash to support themselves.
The divorce settlement can reshape retirement
One of the biggest differences between separating at 35 and separating at 55 is the amount of time available to recover financially.
Someone with decades of working life ahead may have more opportunity to rebuild savings and superannuation.
For someone approaching retirement, there may be considerably less time to make up the difference.
That means the headline dollar value of a settlement does not necessarily tell the whole story.
Two people could walk away with assets worth roughly the same amount but have very different financial futures depending on what those assets actually are.
Income-earning capacity, housing costs, access to retirement savings and the ability to generate future income can all affect what that settlement means in practice.
Tax is another consideration. Selling or transferring certain assets as part of a settlement can have financial consequences that are not immediately obvious, so it's important to understand the broader implications before agreeing to an arrangement.
Adult children can complicate the picture
After decades together, a couple's finances may also be intertwined with their adult children's.
Parents may have helped children buy property, contributed to family businesses or trusts, or made informal arrangements around future inheritances.
A separation can force some of those long-standing arrangements to be reconsidered.
Estate planning is another area that can easily be overlooked when a marriage ends. Wills, powers of attorney, superannuation death benefit nominations, insurance policies and trust structures may all need to be reviewed following separation.
Couples may not think about this in the immediate aftermath of a breakup, but failing to update these arrangements can leave old intentions in place long after circumstances have changed.
There is less room for financial mistakes later in life
An amicable separation is certainly possible, but reaching an informal agreement simply because a couple has been together for decades can create problems further down the track.
A settlement that seems fair at the time may look very different once you take into account future housing costs, retirement income, and other financial needs.
For older couples, there can simply be less room to recover from a poor financial decision.
The end of a long marriage is therefore not just the end of a relationship. It can also mean the end of a financial partnership built over an entire adult life.
The challenge is working out what that new financial life will look like – and making sure both people understand what they are giving up, what they are keeping and whether the settlement will continue to work for them long after the divorce is final.
Get legal advice before agreeing to a settlement
If you are considering separation later in life, understand your legal and financial position before agreeing to a property settlement or making informal arrangements.
A family lawyer can help you identify the assets and liabilities that need to be considered, explain your legal options and help you understand the potential long-term consequences of a proposed settlement.
For advice about separation, property settlements and divorce, contact Tiyce & Lawyers Family Law Specialists at tiyce.com to discuss your circumstances and obtain independent legal advice.
