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In an article published on March 13 in the Daily Business Review, Family Law Attorney Rebecca L. Palmer outlines why gray divorce, divorce of couples over 50, is best understood as a major inflection point in longer working lives and longer financial horizons. She explains how the longevity economy is reshaping divorce strategy regarding how assets will perform, adapt, and support independent lives over the next 20 to 30 years.
“Florida’s 2023 alimony reform, effective July 1, 2023, eliminated permanent alimony entirely and replaced it with durational alimony capped at 75 percent of the length of a long-term marriage and 35 percent of the income difference between spouses,” Palmer explained. “For gray divorce clients who spent decades expecting permanent support as a safety net, this statutory shift fundamentally changes the financial architecture of settlement planning and makes proactive, forward-looking negotiation even more critical.”
Palmer highlights why asset division and spousal support planning should take into account decades of market volatility, tax timing, rising housing costs, and especially healthcare, which Fidelity estimates a single 65-year-old retiree will need roughly $172,500 for healthcare. Longevity also complicates support decisions because later-life health changes and longer working lives make traditional assumptions about near-term retirement unreliable, so settlements and support structures need to be stress-tested for long-term resilience.
“Divorce outcomes must be evaluated not only for fairness at judgment, but for durability over time,” said Palmer. “The goal is no longer simply to resolve the case, but to manage risk across the span of post-divorce life.”
Read the story in full; click here (subscriber-based).