Years Later, Divorce Complicates Caregiving

A top Los Angeles divorce lawyer we recently spoke with explains that the present divorce rates come as a result of a spike in numbers that struck back in the 1970s. And according to The New York Times, states liberalized their divorce laws, working women became less inclined to remain in unsatisfying marriages, the cultural stigma of divorce faded — and 30 years later, the grown children of these broken marriages are dealing with the unanticipated consequences.

Los Angeles Family Law Attorneys Observe Divorce Adds More Complexity To Already Complex And Emotional Situation

U.S. Census Bureau data shows how much more common this scenario has become than in decades past. In 1960, about 4 percent of people over 60 were currently divorced or separated; by 2000, the proportion had climbed to more than 9 percent of men and 10 percent of women. A higher proportion of the 60-plus population is currently married now, in part because lengthening lifespans mean that fewer become widowed. But many of those are second or third marriages, according to census data: among men over 50 who’d ever been divorced, almost 56 percent were married in 2004, as were 40 percent of ever-divorced women. According to an experienced Glendale family law attorney , this can create some thorny situations.

Years after parents split, their children may wind up helping to sustain two households instead of one, and those households can be across town or across the country. And according to family attorneys Los Angeles unmarried women (whether single, widowed or divorced) face significantly higher poverty rates in middle and old age, according to a study by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research that AARP published last year.

With remarriages, moreover, the cast of characters increases. Children may find themselves caring for three or four older people instead of one or two, dealing with several sets of doctors, social workers, accountants and attorneys. And with stepsiblings, sometimes a squadron of them.