Marketplace · Thursday, July 9, 2026
Divorce rates have doubled for individuals over 50 and tripled for those over 65, presenting complex financial and property division challenges. Emily Stewart reports that for older couples, untangling lifetime assets such as multiple homes and retirement accounts is significantly more complex than for younger couples.
“All right, so divorces are generally down, right? But not so much with, uh, older folks.”
“Yeah, so older people still get divorced at lower rates than younger people, but we are seeing the rate of divorce go up among, then, so since 1990, the divorce rate for people over 50 has doubled, and for people over 65, it has tripled.”
“But for older people, you know, these people have really kind of built a lifetime together, right? It's not just the house, it might be multiple houses, it's the retirement accounts, the 401ks.”