Solving the mysteries of mature-age marriage – who and how?

Mike Taylor

Managing Editor/Publisher, Financial Newswire

23 March 2023

Squizzy has been married to the same, long-suffering woman for nigh on 50 years and it is fair to say that back in the early 1970s poverty and ignorance precluded either of us from considering a pre-nup.

Poverty and ignorance are certainly not traits Squizzy would attribute to the “dirty digger” Rupert Murdoch, and so Squizzy is all admiration for the Sydney public relations operative who has attempted (probably successfully) to sell a story about senior estate planning based on Murdoch being 92 and moving on to his fifth marriage.

Now Squizzy reckons that if he, too, was 92 and moving on to his fifth marriage he would have a couple of concerns, one of which would be remembering names and the other of which Squizzy doesn’t want to talk about.

Anyway, it seems entirely likely that Murdoch has templated a pretty bullet-proof pre-nuptial and that, being in US jurisdiction, he doesn’t actually need the sound counsel of Equity Trustees senior estate planning solicitor, Susan Bonnici.

Nonetheless, Bonnici did venture that: “Divorce at any age is tough. When you’re older at the time of divorce, it’s crucial that you consider how you split your assets and the implications this will have for your estate, especially if you have adult kids or a blended family”.  

Sound words, which Squizzy will keep in mind in the event that Mrs S finally loses patience.