Even though a later-in-life divorce, often referred to as a "gray divorce," can be potentially devastating financially, it’s often women who initiate the process. “They may have stayed in an unhappy marriage for the sake of the children,” says Lisa Zeiderman, managing partner at the law firm Miller Zeiderman, in New York City. “Now that the children are off to college or grown, they feel it’s time to move on with their lives.”
Sometimes the breaking-up point comes when both spouses retire and “sparks start to fly,” says Kimberly Foss, a partner with Mercer Global Advisors in Roseville, Calif, of the reasons for a gray divorce. Leslie Thompson, cofounder of Spectrum Wealth Management in Indianapolis, says financial control is often a factor for women “who don’t want to be judged on how they manage their money.”
