It is unusual for divorce not to cause disruption to previous made financial plans for maintaining long term financial viability. But the loss of a partner due to divorce can be particularly disruptive to long term care plans for each other, regardless of how well resourced the partners are. If you are going through a divorce, here are some key questions which you and your former partner need to address:
- If there are children, what were the children’s expectations of you and your former partner?
- Were they aware of your care plans in the first place? Are long term care policies in place? Was a care plan ever discussed with the extended family unit?
- Are children suddenly faced with financial obligations due to your or your ex-partner’s potential shortfall?
- Are children suddenly faced with the logistics of potentially caring for two parents each having NO trusted personal advocate to shoulder the primary long-term health care decisions?
- If no children are involved or willing to be involved, who is willing to take on the personal responsibility of making certain each partner’s care needs are met?
Trends in divorce at later stages of life mean that families should be prepared to have these kinds of conversations as soon as practical in their aging continuum.
About Jeff Metz
Jeff Metz, MT, CFP jmetz@rtdfinancial.com
Jeff is an equity partner and Senior Financial Counselor at RTD Financial Advisors. Jeff graduated from Case Western Reserve University with a degree in Chemical Engineering. Jeff has a Master in Taxation degree from Villanova Law School, with an emphasis in estate planning. Jeff is a member of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), the Financial Planning Association and Financial Therapy Association. Jeff enjoys the opportunity to offer counseling that creates convergence in the actions taken to produce real financial progress and achieve peace of mind.