Several factors can be attributed to this recent rise in divorce among seniors. The first and most obvious is that life expectancies are now higher than they have ever been previously; the average life expectancy for a male living in a Western country such as the UK is in the 70s, while that for an equivalent female is a few years more! When this is compared to the life expectancy only a few decades ago, which was in the late 50s and early 60s, the difference is apparent. With this increase in life expectancy has come a simultaneous and radical improvement in the quality of life of seniors. Couples in their 60s and 70s are no longer the disease-stricken, injury-ridden invalids they were a few decades ago; rapid advances in modern medicine and methods of helping patients cope with chronic diseases such as arthritis, angina, and many others that were previously viewed as a death-knell to normal routines and habits. With this increase in living standard has come a realignment of priorities; seniors that have been freed of their obligations are not living for the reasons that they ‘have to’, but now for the ones that they ‘would like to’. In other words, the shift in focus from their obligations and needs to their desires sometimes results in seniors deciding that they have had enough with their marriages and would like to seek a divorce. Another reason for the surge in divorces among seniors is a natural consequence of the events that take place in their lives. Their careers draw to an end, they retire, their children leave home; all these leave them with more time in which to reevaluate their relationship. Sometimes, this reevaluation leads to the realisation that the individuals in the relationship would like happier, more meaningful lives. In other, rarer, cases, no specific reason is cited for the divorce; the couple mutually agrees to a split simply because they both wish to go their separate ways. Seniors undergoing divorce have several special needs that they as well as those assisting or representing them must bear in mind during the process. For instance, their health needs are usually far more pronounced than those for a younger couple; health insurance is essential for both parties. In most cases, competent lawyers can arrange for the existing health care coverage to split fairly between the couples. Life insurance is another major issue; it can be quite difficult to secure life insurance at that advanced age, so any existing insurance must also be treated as a common asset and allocated equally among the couple. Alimony is often granted to the non-working member so that he or she is able to continue an equivalent standard of living post-divorce as most courts recognise the rights of the stay-at-home individual and their contribution, albeit intangible, to the common assets of the couple. This alimony agreement must also account for the working member retiring, which typically occurs soon after or a few years after the divorce. Asset distribution must factor in the cost of maintaining and owning those assets, for it is extremely difficult and unlikely that any non-working member will re-enter the workforce and begin supporting him or herself. Relations with children are typically far easier to deal with when seniors divorce than when younger people do. This typically occurs because the children of seniors are generally older, settled, and far more mature. This issue, which typically leads to much anguish and conflict when younger people divorce is, therefore, far less of a concern in these types of divorces. However, the couple must take care in the manner in which they inform their children of their divorce, as their progeny may find it hard to accept that their parents, whose relationship they regarded as rock-solid, are splitting up; this may also have implications for the children’s personal lives. Thus, while it is increasingly common for older people to obtain a divorce, they have specific needs unique to their age group that must be kept in mind by all those assisting and representing them. If all these needs are met and any other concerns that they have are addressed, there is every possibility that the divorce will result in happier, more meaningful lives for all parties concerned.