You may have heard that your divorce odds are generally dropping over time. As you grow older, if you get married, you’re less likely to get divorced. For instance, someone who gets married at 21 years old has much higher odds of divorce than someone who gets married at 29 years old.
People do sometimes make the mistake of assuming that this trend is endless, however. They may even put off getting married, thinking that every year they wait makes their marriage a little more stable. This isn’t necessarily how it works.
The change at age 32
What studies have found is that divorce odds do drop from when you’re young until you are in your late 20s or early 30s. This is why it’s not really advisable for young couples to rush into marriage if their goal is to make that marriage last. From 18 to 32, there is a decrease in the odds of divorce for every year that a person waits to tie the knot.
But after 32 years old, the odds begin to increase again, so it is possible to wait too long. This suggests that 32 may be the optimal age to get married, when the rates have dropped as far as they possibly can before reversing course. This doesn’t mean divorce is guaranteed not to happen – nothing can do that – but simply that it is least common for the average couple.
Second marriage
It is also important to note that many older couples may be getting married and divorced for the second time. Since second marriages are more likely to end in divorce, this increases the overall rate. In fact, divorce among those who are 50 and older has been trending upward and happening more often, year after year, so that can have a heavy hand in the statistics.
Are you getting divorced?
No matter what age you got married at, if you’re thinking about getting divorced this year, you need to know about all of your legal options. Divorce can be complicated, but knowing what steps to take can help it go as smoothly as possible.