Sarah Palin and her estranged husband have both filed divorce claims against each other after 30 years of marriage. The 55-year-old and her husband do not seem to completely agree with the reasons for the divorce. With divorce rates for older couples still climbing, Missouri residents 55 and older might be interested in the outcome of Palin’s divorce.
The couple share five children, but only one is a minor. Palin’s husband is asking for joint custody of the 11-year-old. In his divorce filing, the husband claimed that the couple was unable to continue living together due to their different temperaments. Palin also filed a countersuit against her husband, indicating that there were differences of opinions about the divorce.
The court record is sealed, in accordance with the wishes of Palin and her husband. He filed the initial claim privately, using only the couple’s initials on the same day as his 55th birthday. The couple married in 1988.
Divorces of long-term couples can be complex as they often have accumulated a greater amount of assets, including properties and accounts. Missouri is an equitable division state, which means that marital property, or property acquired during marriage by the couple, will be divided by a judge in an equitable or fair manner if the parties cannot reach an agreement on the division of property. Fair is not the same concept as equal, and judges have a variety of factors they consider before making a marital property decision, including each person’s financial status, child custody arrangements, how much each person contributed financially when getting the property and even the value of each person’s individual property.
During the divorce and property division process, support might be gained from consulting with a lawyer with experience in family law. The lawyer may provide guidance about state laws and representation during the property division negotiations.
