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Specialty tag(s): Divorce, Gray Divorce

Missed Opportunities: When Seniors Should Use an Attorney in a Divorce

Tom Trahan | November 3, 2026

Seniors choosing to represent themselves in a gray divorce are often especially vulnerable to expensive missed opportunities and challenges because family law in Texas provides tools and protections to older adults not reflected in online forms.

Texas allows any adult to represent themselves, to go “pro se” in any civil litigation – including divorce and child custody cases. For some, this can be an attractive option, especially when the size of the marital estate is small, and no children are involved. 

However, for seniors especially, going through the legal system assisted only by AI or online forms can allow opportunities in your case to fall through the cracks. 

For instance, older adults often have longer marriages that qualify for spousal support and other protections. The home in which they reside may have homestead protection that can be lost if not managed correctly. Splitting a retirement plan requires special language in the divorce decree and a special order under Federal law called a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (a “QDRO.”) QDROs must be drafted to satisfy the language required by the administrator of the retirement plan involved. 

Shorter senior marriages headed to divorce often involve substantial property owned before the marriage, such as a house, or an inheritance. These assets may be “Separate Property” under the Texas community property system, but it is presumed to be community property until proved otherwise with specific evidence. Retirement funds earned before a second marriage can be lost without proving how the funds changed since the date of the marriage.

Marriages of older adults also often involve necessary discovery issues. Many marriages involve a mismatch of financial information that can only be leveled using discovery tools. 

Most sensitively, some older adults have reached a stage in their lives when their ability to handle complicated legal affairs is compromised by their physical or mental health. Dealing with the stress and emotional disruption of a divorce was hard enough for me when I divorced in mid-life with legal training. Imagine how those issues impact a party with limited endurance for making difficult and heart-wrenching decisions.

At Goranson Bain Ausley, a Texas Family Law firm, we specialize in dealing with the opportunities and challenges people have when going through a divorce. We are trained to spot issues important in each client’s case and to conduct the information gathering necessary for a proper result – even when the opposing party is secretive and controlling. Our goals are our client’s goals, and we assist in accomplishing them by using the entire set of tools the law allows. 

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