Forest Hill's Jeff Judge in Business Insider: The divorce paperwork most people forget

By Jeff Judge, CFP®, AEP®, ChFC®, CLU®, Managing Partner, Chesapeake Financial Planners, Forest Hill, MD.

Gray divorce is on the rise. Business Insider reported this week that while divorce has fallen for people in their 20s and 30s, it has doubled for people over 50 and tripled for those over 65. I was glad to add a planner's view to the piece.

Here is what I told the reporter, and what I tell neighbors here in Harford County. When a marriage ends later in life, people focus on the house and the retirement accounts. Then they update the will, cross off their ex, and assume the job is done.

It rarely is. Your will does not control your 401(k), your life insurance, or most of your trusts. Those pass by the beneficiary form you signed years ago and probably have not looked at since. I have seen a life insurance payout go entirely to an ex-spouse, long after the divorce, because that one form was never changed.

There is also the "equal" split that is not equal. Two accounts can show the same balance and carry very different tax bills, so one person quietly ends up with less.

If you are a Bel Air or Baltimore-metro reader unwinding a long marriage, the steps are simple. Update every beneficiary. Change your powers of attorney, because no one wants an ex making their medical decisions. And weigh the tax character of each asset before you call a split fair.

None of this is complicated. It is just easy to miss on your own. A second set of eyes is often what catches it in time.

This piece builds on "Baby boomer divorce is booming," in Business Insider (June 2026).

Jeff Judge, CFP®, AEP®, ChFC®, CLU®, is Managing Partner at Chesapeake Financial Planners in Forest Hill, MD. Book an intro call.