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One of the main financial challenges in a grey divorce is retirement planning and the division of pensions. By the time you are in your fifties, retirement accounts such as pensions, RRSPs (Registered Retirement Savings Plans), and TFSA (Tax-Free Savings Accounts) are some of the largest assets you will have.

Dividing these assets could leave one spouse with a significantly smaller retirement fund, so it is important to consult with a legal professional to help you understand how your grey divorce will affect your financial security.

Dividing pensions can be especially tricky, as the way they’re treated depends on whether the pension is already being paid when the couple separates. I highly recommend consulting with a family lawyer when attempting to resolve issues related to your pension.

Keep in mind, it’s not just retirement savings and pensions that need to be divided. Other significant assets, such as the family home, must also be addressed.

In many grey divorces, couples have owned their home for decades and deciding what happens to the home can be complicated as both spouses may have emotional attachments to the property.

I have seen cases where one spouse will want to keep the family home. In this scenario, they’ll need to make sure they can afford the mortgage, property taxes, and maintenance costs independently.

The spouse living in the family home may need to pay the other spouse by providing other assets or financial compensation to ensure a fair division.

Alternatively, if you decide to sell the family home, the proceeds will need to be divided among each spouse.

Another major factor you need to consider is spousal support and income disparity.

Throughout my 30-plus years as a family lawyer, one thing I’ve seen in many long-term marriages is that one spouse has typically been the primary breadwinner, while the other may have stayed home to care for the family, relying on the other for financial stability.

The court will usually order spousal support to ensure that the lower-earning spouse can maintain a standard of living close to what they were accustomed to during the marriage. Some of the factors that determine the amount and duration of spousal support include the length of the marriage, the financial needs of the recipient spouse, and the payer’s ability to contribute.

Finally, it’s crucial when navigating a grey divorce to review and update your will, power of attorney and beneficiary designations.

If your spouse is listed as a beneficiary on your life insurance policies, retirement accounts or any other financial documents, you need to revise your estate plans. If you don’t make these updates, your spouse could inherit assets you no longer wish to leave them.

To protect yourself financially in a grey divorce, it’s important to have a clear understanding of your finances.

A family lawyer can help ensure that the division of assets is fair and that you’re fully aware of your legal rights, especially when it comes to pensions, spousal support and estate division.