British Columbia Law
Grey Divorce in BC - The Unique Challenges of Later-Life Separation
Have you heard the term "grey divorce"? The term refers to spouses with grey hair — older couples separating later in life, often after decades of marriage. While divorce rates overall have been declining in Canada, grey divorce is actually increasing, and it raises a distinct set of legal and financial challenges that require specialized advice.
A recent report noted that about a third of divorces in Canada now involve older couples, despite the enormous financial consequences. Unlike younger couples who separate with modest assets and decades ahead to rebuild, grey divorcees are dividing a lifetime of accumulated wealth — and they are doing it at a time when their earning years are behind them.
The Financial Stakes Are Different
In a long-term marriage, both spouses have typically contributed to the family's financial picture in ways that are deeply intertwined:
- Pension assets: Many grey divorces involve defined benefit pensions — from government employment, military service, or long-service private-sector jobs. Under BC's Family Law Act (FLA), pension benefits accumulated during the relationship period are family property subject to division. Dividing a pension requires a specialized court order called a Pension Division Order or a negotiated agreement with the pension plan administrator.
- CPP Credits: Canada Pension Plan credits accumulated during the marriage can be split between spouses, regardless of who earned them, through Service Canada's CPP credit splitting provisions.
- RRSPs and RRIFs: Registered retirement savings built during the marriage are family property. Transfers between spouses at separation can be made on a tax-deferred basis using a spousal RRSP rollover — if properly documented.
- The family home: In most long marriages, the family home has significant equity. But selling the family home late in life often means both spouses downsizing — and starting over with substantially less than they planned.
- Business interests: If one or both spouses built a business during the marriage, valuing and dividing that business can be one of the most complex and expensive parts of a grey divorce.
Starting Over on Half
Even without disability issues, most family law jurisdictions — including BC — divide the net family property equally on separation. In a long marriage, this means each spouse starts their new life with approximately half the assets they had together. For a couple who planned their retirement together on the assumption of a joint household and combined income, the financial shock of grey divorce can be severe.
Retirement timelines, housing plans, health care costs, and estate plans all need to be revisited from the ground up.
Spousal Support in Grey Divorce
Spousal support is often a significant issue in grey divorce. In a long marriage where one spouse was the primary breadwinner and the other sacrificed career development to manage the household or support the breadwinner's career, there may be substantial compensatory and non-compensatory spousal support entitlement.
Under the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines (SSAG), long marriages often attract indefinite (not time-limited) spousal support — reflecting the economic reality that a spouse who has been out of the workforce for many years has limited ability to become self-sufficient.
Health, Capacity, and Estate Planning
Grey divorce also intersects with estate planning in ways that younger separating couples rarely face. At the time of separation:
- Existing Wills and beneficiary designations must be reviewed and updated immediately. Under BC's Wills, Estates and Succession Act (WESA), separation does not automatically revoke a Will or change beneficiary designations on registered accounts and insurance — only a divorce order does that.
- Powers of Attorney and Representation Agreements need to be updated — the ex-spouse should not remain as attorney or representative after separation.
- One or both spouses may have health conditions that affect their capacity to make decisions — which can complicate the separation process and raise questions about undue influence or capacity at the time agreements are signed.
The Case for Mediation in Grey Divorce
Andrew Liggett is a family law mediator — and in grey divorce cases, he strongly recommends mediation over litigation for both practical and human reasons.
Litigation is adversarial, expensive, and public. Grey divorcees typically have adult children, grandchildren, established social networks, and shared communities. A mediated separation agreement protects privacy, preserves dignity, and allows both spouses to reach a resolution that reflects the reality of their lives — rather than leaving it to a judge who does not know them.
Mediation also allows for creative solutions that courts cannot impose: graduated property transfers, shared use of the family home for a transitional period, pension-sharing arrangements, and spousal support structures that both parties can actually live with.
Personal Counselling Makes a Difference
Andrew also encourages both personal counselling and couples counselling before and during the separation process. Counselling helps each spouse process the emotional reality of ending a long marriage — and it makes mediation more effective.
A couple who has done some emotional processing is far better positioned to have productive conversations about property and support than one who is still in the initial shock and grief of separation.
Even if reconciliation is not possible or desired, counselling helps people move through the separation process with less damage — to themselves, their children (even adult children), and their relationship as future co-grandparents.
If you are facing a later-life separation in BC, Sea to Sky Law™ offers the experienced, compassionate legal guidance you need. Contact Andrew Liggett BA JD CD to discuss your situation — by phone or secure video, anywhere in British Columbia.
This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. Meetings are by appointment only, by phone or secure video.