Divorced women and their retirement
Thu 6 Sep, 2018 / by Parker and Parker / Divorce
People in Illinois may already be aware that getting a divorce can have a significant impact on their current and future financial well-being. However, divorce seems to affect women more negatively than it does men. According to one 2008 study, divorced women tend to experience a drop in income by over a fifth while men actually experience a rise in their income by nearly a third.
While divorced women seem to bear the brunt of the negative impact of leaving a marriage, a study that was conducted by researchers at the Center for Retirement Research has shown that the long-term financial state, such as during retirement, of the divorced women may fare better than never marrying. The important factor in their long-term financial health is getting the home in the divorce.
The results of the study indicated that single divorced women have been able to better accumulate assets than single women who have never been married. The critical factor is the ownership of a home as single divorced women have a higher likelihood of owning a house.
While the results may seem favorable for divorced women, many financial advisors and divorce attorneys are concerned as they have many female clients who want to keep the home in a divorce but are unable to afford the costs of the mortgage, taxes, maintenance and unexpected emergencies. In some situations, retaining ownership of the home is not best option as there are sometimes other major assets in the marriage that can be retained to provide financial security during retirement.
A divorce attorney may work to protect the rights of clients who have disputes regarding the division of assets. The attorney may engage in litigation to ensure that clients are able to retain ownership of assets, such as real estate, that help them have a successful retirement.