If you are thinking about filing for divorce from your spouse, you may have some age-specific concerns related to the process. For example, if you are young and have not yet established a firm financial footing, you may be concerned about how you will manage with only one income. If you are a bit older and have minor children, you may be concerned about child support and child custody matters. If you have been married for decades, you may be concerned about how your divorce will impact your retirement.

These are all valid concerns. The truth of the matter is that there is no perfect age at which you may divorce your spouse without incurring some challenging consequences. If you retain the services of an experienced family law attorney whom you trust, that attorney will likely help to mitigate those negative consequences and to soothe your fears in regards to certain issues. However, divorce is complex no matter when you avail yourself of the process.

As a result, when contemplating whether or not to divorce, it is far more beneficial to focus on one issue above all others. To put it simply, you must generally ask yourself whether your marriage is a happy and healthy one. If the answer to this question is no, you must then ask yourself whether your marriage is likely to become healthy and happy again in the relatively near future.

If you are in an unhappy and unhealthy marriage, and you are far more likely to live a healthy and happy life away from your spouse, it may greatly benefit you to pursue a divorce. If this is the case, the age-related concerns you have will ultimately sort themselves out in time. But before you can sort these matters out, you must first decide whether or not to seek a divorce in the first place.

Source: The Huffington Post, “Is There A Good Age For Divorce?” Abby King, Sep. 23, 2015