Fairfax Family Law Blog

Division of assets and property after a divorce is almost always a difficult process. However, and additional wrinkle emerges when one or both of the spouses works as a federal employee.

Generally, divorces involving federal employees follow the same property division parameters as divorces between private-sector couples. However, federal employee divorces can sometimes be more complicated because federal employee benefits are governed by their own set of laws. For this reason, it's important to choose an experienced federal employee divorce lawyer who understands these rules.

With couples such as Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger facing divorce after twenty-five years of marriage, and Al and Tipper Gore ending their marriage after forty years together, the U.S. is facing a trend in older couples divorcing. In fact, while the number of divorces nationwide has declined slightly over the last twenty years, the number of divorces among couples age 50 and up has doubled.

Divorces for older people have different ramifications than divorces for younger couples. While younger couples may be concerned about the interest of their children, child custody and support matters, those 50 and up generally have different concerns; such as finances, division of retirement assets, inheritance and business issues.