4 big questions couples who want to live together should ask each other, especially if they’re over 50

Taking your romantic relationship to the next level — sharing a home — is a big deal in so many ways.

Taking your romantic relationship to the next level — sharing a home — is a big deal in so many ways. If you opt to live together instead of marrying, you may think you’re saving money (e.g., no wedding!) and keeping your financial and legal independence from each other. In some ways you may be. But there are a lot of financial and legal considerations that you both should hash out before calling the movers. That is especially the case for couples over 50 — for whom living together may seem the easier option if they have already had long-term marriages. “My research has shown that following a gray divorce, women and men are more likely to form a cohabitation than a remarriage, signaling that cohabitation is gaining ground among older adults these days,” said sociology professor Susan Brown, director of the National Center for Family & Marriage Research at Bowling Green State University. An analysis of federal data by the Pew Research Center found that in 2016, couples over 50 represented roughly a quarter of adults living together. Those in this age group — far more than couples in their 20s and 30s — have already lived complex lives, raised families and saved for and envisioned retirement. They also, much to their chagrin, are more likely to develop health problems during their relationships from hereon out.