Texas couples who are over the age of 40 are more likely to get divorced than their age counterparts in previous generations. This is based on a survey of census data from 1960 and 1980 along with 2013 data from the Minnesota Population Center’s Integrated Public Microdata Sample Project.
Overall, the survey found younger people less likely to be divorced in 2013 and older people more so than in the past. In 1960, nearly 25 percent of 30-year-olds were divorced or separated. In 2013, the percentage was about half that much.
In 2013, people who were married, divorced or on later marriages peaked at the age of 59. The percentage of people who fit in that category, 42 percent, was almost identical to the number who were in their first marriage, 43 percent. About twice as many people were divorced in their 60s in 2013 compared to people in 1960.
Whatever their age, people who are going through a divorce face tremendous life changes, and they may wish to speak with a lawyer before doing anything else to get an understanding of how their financial situation and other parts of their life might change. They can also begin to get a sense of their rights regarding child custody and property division. Texas is a community property state, and one task for a couple and their respective family law attorneys will be deciding which assets count as marital property. This will depend on factors such as what each person brought into the marriage, whether either received an inheritance and what was done with it, and when the date of separation occurred. It will also depend on whether or not there was a prenuptial agreement and how vulnerable that agreement might be to challenges in court.