The poverty rate among unmarried women over 50 is nearly three times higher than the rate for divorced men over 50, according to a recent study.

To explain the discrepancy, researchers pointed to Social Security laws. When the Social Security Act was passed in the 1930s, most eligible persons were married, and so women who had been absent from the workforce for a number of years could rely on a spouse's Social Security benefit. But as the divorce rate in this age bracket has increased significantly in recent years, that reliance is no longer possible in many cases.

In 1980, one in five midlife adults were unmarried; today, that proportion is one in three.

Many litigants and practitioners consider these forms of alternative dispute resolution to be similar. There are some commonalities, not the least of which is that they are both negotiation-based, as opposed to litigation-based, methods for dispute resolution. But comparing this alternative to complex property litigation with mediation is a little like comparing this article to William Shakespeare's literary epic Hamlet: while there are some similarities, the comparison is by no means apples to apples.

Functional Differences

Collaborative law is a comprehensive litigation alternative that includes a discovery component. During this process, the parties freely exchange relevant documents, and any disputes are worked out between the parties. In a similar vein, the spouses themselves are typically responsible for gathering financial and other documents, so they feel invested in the process. If there is need for an expert, such as an accountant, the parties divide the cost.

Unmarried women over 50 are nearly five times more likely to live in poverty as married women in that age group, according to a recent divorce study.

Researchers from Bowling Green University also found a number of other "wide ranging financial consequences" to divorce in this age group. There are several reasons for this reality. First, according to the study, unmarried women receive significantly lower Social Security payments than married ones, mostly because when the system was designed, later-in-life divorce was essentially unheard of. Secondly, women who divorce earlier in life have more time to recoup lost wealth through employment and investment income.

Curiously, the age/income disparity was not present among men of a similar age.

Texas is one of the few states that recognize informal marriages for all purposes, although most jurisdictions do give legal force and effect to common-law marriages from other states. As the name implies, an informal marriage does not require a license or ceremony. However, to dissolve one of these relationships, there must be a legal divorce and perhaps even a complex child custody hearing.

Proving a Common Law Marriage

One or both spouses can file a Declaration of Informal Marriage. As this document does not require the signature of both parties and does not need to be notarized, it cannot prove a common law marriage without supporting evidence during a high net worth divorce. According to Section 2.401 of the Family Code, the three legal elements of an informal marriage are:

Two or three generations ago, divorce was not a realistic option for most people, due largely to moral, religious, and economic reasons. This was especially true for those over 50. Instead, many couples opted to lead separate lives, and perhaps even lived in separate households, but remained legally married.

However, divorce lost much of its moral stigma in the 1970s, through the advent of no-fault marriage dissolution laws. During roughly that same time, the earnings gap between men and women began to close. Although this gap still exists, it is nowhere near as yawning as it was in 1970. Finally, as for the religious objection, Pope Francis recently softened the Catholic Church's position on divorce.

Gray divorce is already twice as common today as it was in 1990. As we move further into the new millennium, couples over 50 may be going to divorce court in even larger numbers. These high-asset divorces are markedly different than actions between younger couples, and the distinction goes far beyond the numbers on a birth certificate.