Gray Divorce Financial Specialist
Pensions, retirement accounts, real estate — Vermont's equitable distribution requires expertise. This guide shows you exactly what you're entitled to.
Leanne Ozaine, CDFA® & CFP® | Specializing in gray divorce for 50+
Turn Panic Into Power — $97Vermont is one of the few states where courts can divide everything — including assets you owned before marriage, inheritances, and gifts. There's no automatic protection for "separate property."
Your spouse may have managed the pensions, the retirement accounts, the property taxes for decades. They understand vesting schedules, beneficiary designations, and how Vermont's equitable distribution actually works.
You're seeing these documents for the first time — while negotiating a settlement that will determine your financial security for the next 30 years.
Vermont divorce law isn't magic. It's complicated — but complicated has solutions. You need someone who can decode the retirement statements, explain permanent alimony implications, and show you exactly what you're entitled to under Vermont's "all property" division rules.
The difference between understanding Vermont divorce law and not? It can easily be $100,000-$300,000 in your final settlement.
If you're over 50 and facing divorce in the Burlington metro area—including Burlington, South Burlington, Williston, Shelburne, Essex, Colchester, or surrounding Chittenden County towns—you're likely dealing with financial complexity that goes beyond what most people understand. Child custody battles typically aren't your main concern—your children are grown, established in their own lives. Instead, your divorce centers entirely on protecting and dividing decades of accumulated wealth in Vermont's most economically vibrant region—while potentially navigating Vermont's permanent alimony provisions.
This is especially challenging if you've never personally managed the family finances. Perhaps your spouse worked for the University of Vermont with complex benefits, managed a successful craft brewery or tourism business, worked in healthcare at UVM Medical Center, or owns Lake Champlain waterfront property that's appreciated dramatically. Now you're facing questions like:
You're not alone: We help Burlington area clients who are learning to understand university benefits, craft beverage economics, tourism business seasonality, and Vermont's unique "all property" division rules for the first time, often while grieving the end of a long marriage. Permanent alimony, UVM pension systems, and Burlington's real estate market aren't intuitive—but they're absolutely learnable, and understanding them is critical to protecting your financial future.
The University of Vermont and UVM Medical Center are the Burlington area's dominant employers, creating unique divorce considerations around academic benefits, healthcare compensation, and educational institution retirement plans.
UVM employment divorce challenges:
UVM Medical Center healthcare workers: Nurses, physicians, and medical staff at UVM Medical Center have complex compensation including base salary, shift differentials (nights/weekends), overtime, and on-call pay. A nurse with a $75K base might earn $95K with differentials. For alimony calculations, which number represents "income"? What happens post-divorce if they stop working nights and income drops?
For those new to managing finances: University pension systems combine state pension benefits with supplemental retirement savings (403(b)/TIAA). Understanding both the defined benefit pension (guaranteed monthly payments) and defined contribution accounts (401(k)-style savings) is essential for fair division.
Critical for gray divorce: UVM employees approaching retirement need careful planning around pension election options (single life vs. joint survivor annuity), retiree healthcare continuation, and how divorce affects these choices. Wrong decisions can cost tens of thousands in lost benefits.
Burlington has become a nationally recognized craft beer destination with breweries like Zero Gravity, Switchback, Foam Brewers, and Queen City Brewery, plus craft cideries and distilleries. Many gray divorce cases involve ownership or significant employment in this booming sector.
Burlington craft beverage divorce issues:
Seasonal income challenge: A Church Street taproom might generate $300K revenue May-October but only $100K November-April. How do we calculate sustainable alimony when income varies 3:1 seasonally? How do we plan post-divorce budgets with this volatility?
Valuation approaches: Traditional business valuation methods (income approach, market approach, asset approach) all struggle with high-growth, currently-low-profit craft beverage businesses. Expert business appraisers familiar with the craft beverage industry become essential.
For gray divorce: If your spouse built a successful brewery over 20+ years, this may be your largest marital asset. Understanding whether to retain ownership, sell to third party, or have the non-owner spouse buy out becomes a critical strategic decision.
Burlington's tourism and hospitality sector—restaurants, hotels, bed & breakfasts, tour operators, Lake Champlain cruise operations—drives significant employment and business ownership in the area, creating unique divorce challenges.
Burlington tourism industry divorce considerations:
Income calculation for alimony: If your spouse owns a waterfront restaurant showing $120K annual profit but taking only $60K salary, what's their "income" for alimony purposes? Vermont courts may impute higher income if the business can afford it.
For those new to finances: Many small business owners minimize reported income for tax purposes. During divorce, we need to add back owner benefits (personal vehicles, meals, travel disguised as business expenses) to understand true economic income available for support.
UVM Medical Center (Vermont's only Level 1 trauma center), plus regional healthcare facilities in Burlington metro, employ thousands with complex compensation and benefits packages.
Burlington healthcare divorce issues:
Physician practice valuation: Is your spouse's medical practice worth primarily their personal goodwill (practice value tied to their specific skills and relationships)? Or does it have infrastructure value (other physicians, established patient base, medical equipment, office ownership)? The distinction matters enormously for property division.
For gray divorce: Healthcare professionals approaching retirement need careful planning around pension elections, retiree healthcare, and practice exit strategies. A physician planning to sell their practice at age 65 needs divorce settlement structured around that anticipated event.
Lake Champlain waterfront property—from Burlington's waterfront district to Shelburne, Charlotte, South Hero, and Grand Isle communities—has experienced extraordinary appreciation. For many Burlington metro gray divorce cases, lakefront property represents the couple's largest asset.
Lake Champlain real estate divorce considerations:
Common scenario: You've owned a Shelburne lakefront home for 28 years. Purchased for $380,000, now worth $950,000. You used $80,000 inheritance (separate property) for down payment and $300,000 marital funds. During marriage it appreciated $570,000. How much is marital vs. separate property? Can you afford $18,000 annual property taxes on one retirement income? Should you sell and downsize or buy out your spouse?
Vermont's "all property" rule: Even if you can prove the lakefront property was 50% separate property from your inheritance, Vermont courts CAN still divide it if necessary for an equitable result—especially in a long marriage where one spouse has limited retirement assets.
For gray divorce: At 58-65 years old, taking on a large mortgage to buy out a $950K lakefront house may not be financially wise even if emotionally desired. We need to model whether keeping the house jeopardizes retirement security or whether selling and downsizing to a condo makes more financial sense.
Burlington's downtown renaissance—Church Street Marketplace, waterfront redevelopment, New North End gentrification—has driven dramatic real estate appreciation and commercial property investment opportunities.
Burlington urban real estate divorce issues:
Rental property division challenge: If you own 3-4 Burlington rental properties generating $60K annual income, how do you divide them fairly? Sell all and split proceeds? One spouse keeps properties and buys out the other? How do we value ongoing management time and effort?
Tax implications: Selling appreciated Burlington rental properties triggers capital gains taxes and depreciation recapture. Understanding after-tax proceeds is essential for fair division.
South Burlington offers suburban living with excellent schools, lower crime, and proximity to Burlington. Many Burlington-area professionals live here.
South Burlington divorce considerations:
Shelburne combines Lake Champlain waterfront, agricultural heritage (Shelburne Farms), and affluent residential areas attracting wealthy professionals and retirees.
Shelburne-specific considerations:
Williston has experienced rapid growth with commercial development along Route 2, creating business ownership and real estate investment opportunities.
Williston divorce considerations:
Essex and Colchester offer more affordable suburban living than Shelburne/South Burlington while maintaining good schools and community amenities.
Essex/Colchester considerations:
Vermont is one of seven states allowing permanent alimony, and Burlington metro divorces frequently involve this issue given the area's professional employment and wealth.
Burlington-specific alimony considerations:
Example scenario: 28-year marriage. One spouse is UVM tenured professor earning $135K. Other spouse left workforce 20 years ago to raise children and has minimal retirement savings. Vermont court may award permanent alimony of $3,500-$5,000/month until professor's death or spouse's remarriage. Understanding this long-term obligation is critical for retirement planning.
The 5-step system that shows you what you'll actually live on, so you stop guessing and start knowing.
Calculate your real post-divorce income — including spousal support, assets, and earning potential — so you negotiate from facts, not fear.
Document gathering checklists tell you exactly what to bring to your attorney — so you walk in prepared, not panicked.
Map out your real expenses as a single person — before you fight for something you can't actually maintain.
The asset identification system helps you find accounts and property you might not even know exist.
22-page guide + video tutorials + checklists + templates
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Get the Clarity You Need — $97You don't have to face UVM benefits, craft brewery valuations, Lake Champlain real estate decisions, or permanent alimony planning alone. Get the financial clarity you need to negotiate with confidence.
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