Divorce after 50: Don’t Make these 7 Mistakes (Pt. 2)

Posted: 13 September, 2021

Picking up from Part 1, here, we will reveal some more common mistakes to avoid making in divorce after 50.

Divorce after 50: More Missteps that Can Cost You

Mistake 3 – Overlooking health insurance considerations.

Is your healthcare insurance under your spouse’s policy? If so, this will be another important factor to consider in divorce after 50 – particularly if your Medicare coverage has not yet kicked in (because you are not yet 65). This is because, if you are being covered by your soon-to-be-ex’s policy, you will no longer retain that coverage after your divorce.

This will typically leave you with a few options for healthcare insurance, including purchasing your own and/or continuing your existing coverage through COBRA (for a limited amount of time). These options can come with some significant costs, however; what’s more they may present problems for people who have certain medical conditions (as these conditions may not be covered if they change insurers).

So, if healthcare insurance is an important issue and will end with a divorce, it may be worth considering a Nevada legal separation in order to maintain coverage under an ex’s policy.

Mistake 4 – Misunderstanding the taxes on retirement assets.

With the division of the marital property, one of the various assets that often comes into play will be retirement accounts like IRAs and 401(k)s. While dividing up such assets can be contentious in any divorce, it can be particularly embittered and complicated in divorce after 50, as these accounts can have substantial funds that people have worked the better part of their lives to accumulate.

Despite the fact, however, that these accounts can have significant funds, it’s important for people to realize that the dollar amounts on account statements do not always reflect the true value of the account. This is because, upon taking funds out of these accounts, taxes will be charged, reducing the true value of account. In fact, generally, the value of these accounts will be about 65 percent of the amounts listed on statements (once you factor in the costs of taxes).

So, if a retirement account will be part of the property division in your divorce, be sure to negotiate with true value of the account (rather than the dollar amount printed on the account statement).

Be sure to check out the upcoming conclusion to this blog series for some final missteps to avoid in divorce after 50.

Contact RIGHT Lawyers at (702) 914-0400 to speak with a Las Vegas Divorce Attorney.