Why women need to improve their financial literacy

"When going through a divorce, whether you're the primary earner or not, it's really important that both parties, really, but the woman especially has a great handle on all levels of finance, especially if she's delegated it to her spouse," Thompson added.  

Before she even hires a divorce attorney, a woman needs to get a deep understanding of all of her assets, her sources of income, retirement plan and credit situation, Thompson said. She should also consider adding a tax planner or CDFA to her team.

"Often attorneys, while they certainly understand the legal aspects of divorce, from a tax [standpoint] they don't really pay a lot of attention to the ramifications of splitting the assets. Having a knowledgeable CPA or a certified divorce financial analyst is helpful," she said.

While data shows the divorce rate overall is falling, some studies have shown that for older Americans, it's actually increasing. Between 1990 and 2012, the number of divorces among people between 55 and 64 more than doubled, according to a study by Susan Brown, I-Fen Lin and Krista Payne of Bowling Green State University. For those 65 and older, the risk of divorce tripled in that time period.

The report found that women are more likely to initiate divorce for every age group over 35.

Thompson attributed the increasing divorce among older women on changes in lifestyle. "Typically your children are on their own or out of their house. Your life looks and feels different than it did when you were consumed with children's activities," she said. After their children are independent, "people take a step back and maybe realize that either, one, they were continuing to stay married to keep their family intact, or, two, perhaps their interests really differ and it's taken time to reassess their situation."

The danger in divorcing at a later age is that you're that much closer to retirement. If their ability to save for retirement "wasn't that great to begin with — or maybe it was fine to begin with but when you separate assets in two, things look different — people may not have sufficient assets to accomplish their goals," Thompson said.

She added, "Even if they're educated on what their balance sheet looks like, most people really don't know what it takes to make their life work financially post-divorce all the way through retirement."

One of the challenges for advisors is getting clients "during that emotional time really focused on what it is they have, what do they need immediately, and what is it they need long term."

Another challenge is helping them separate emotions from certain types of assets, like the house. "Women in particular can be more emotional about keeping the house or certain types of investment accounts," Thompson said. "It's important to take a step back and think about what they need and look at each asset in terms of helping them determine how that particular asset is going to help them accomplish their long-term goals. Is the house going to help them become financially independent and cash-flow independent over their lifetime? If the answer is no, perhaps it makes that decision that much easier to not tie your divorce to any particular asset.