Regardless of age, many people seeking a divorce a divorce in Pennsylvania would like to do so as amicably and inexpensively as possible. For these people, uncontested divorce is the preferred divorce option. However, there are some issues unique to divorces involving older people.

Although the divorce rate has dropped over the past 20 years, the rate of divorce for older people has doubled. Over 300,000 baby boomers divorced in 2008. If the divorce rate for people aged 50 or older continues to increase at its present rate, that number will be more than 400,000 by 2030.

Often the issues in an older couple's divorce are quite different from the issues younger divorcing couples face. Recently, Smart Money Magazine wrote an interesting article that highlighted some of the most common divorce mistakes made by people over 50. We'd like to share some of their findings with our readers.

Marital assets and property are divided in a divorce. However, not all assets are created equal. Although the value of a 401(k) and the marital home may look to be the same on paper, they are not equal assets in reality. Many people overlook the fact that money in a retirement account is subject to taxation when it is withdrawn. A 401(k) with $100,000 in it may in fact only be worth $65,000 after taxes are taken out.

Additionally, many older couples who get a divorce do not think about the importance of Social Security benefits when they negotiate their divorce settlement. If the marriage lasted at least 10 years, a spouse is entitled to a share of the other spouse's social security benefits after the age of 62 so long as the spouse receiving the benefits does not remarry.

There are many issues to consider when negotiating a divorce settlement and it can be easy for some couples to overlook these issues. People who have questions about obtaining an uncontested divorce in Pennsylvania can turn to attorneys who specialize in uncontested divorce and have experience in identifying the types of issues many couples overlook in negotiations.

Source: Smart Money, "Divorce Over 50: 3 Mistakes to Avoid," Catey Hill, 3/23/2011