There are many reasons for divorce, and every situation is unique. But one thing that has been noted recently is that gray divorce is on the rise. A potential reason for this is that many people in this age bracket – 50 years old and older – have recently become empty-nesters.
In other words, these couples had children and then spent decades raising them. But the children recently moved out, perhaps to go to college, to get their own apartments, to get married or for some other reason. The parents are once again alone in their home and their relationship – and that can change things between them.
Drifting apart
One thing that sometimes happens is that parents tend to drift apart in their personal relationships. If they didn’t have children, they would be more conscious of this as it happened. But children can be distracting, life gets busy, and parents don’t really realize what has happened. They are just focused on the kids.
But when they become empty-nesters, it becomes clear that the marriage has some significant problems. Maybe they no longer feel as connected as they once were. Perhaps they have different goals for the rest of their lives. Maybe they’ve changed in other ways so that they just don’t think they are personally compatible any longer, the way that they were back when they decided to get married.
Once the kids have moved out, these types of issues become more apparent and sometimes impossible to ignore. This can cause parents to move toward a divorce. It’s important for them to consider all of their legal options at this time.