What is a legal separation in divorce?

Image by rmcgervey via Flickr

When a couple gets a legal separation, it is a lot like a divorce. It will involve the same process of filing papers with the court to start a legal action. The court will then have to make the decisions about where the children will live, debts, and assets in a divorce. At the end of the process, the parties are legally separated instead of being actually divorced. This means that they are still married but not responsible for each other and what the other party does.

A legal separation is the best thing to do in the last stages of couples not getting along. It can be a way of taking a break and finding out what each party wants. There is no reason to rush into getting divorce for some people and it is a decision that has to be well thought out just as the marriage should have been.

Sometimes when people are on a legal separation, they will try and work things out. However, there are some cases, where it will not work and the parties’ involved want to get a divorce. One year after the legal separation is granted, one of the parties can petition to convert the separation to a divorce. They can do this without further hearings and the other party cannot prevent it from happening. People will sometimes prefer the separation instead of a divorce because of their religious beliefs or for insurance purposes.

If the party then decides to get a divorce, it will terminate their marriage. In order to do that, parties involved will go to court and decide how to handle questions of the children and how to divide their marital property. Each party is going to be responsible for one half of the marital debts.

Marital property is anything that the couple bought while they were married. It does not matter whose name the property is in or who actually purchased it. Bank accounts, pensions, and stocks are marital property even if they are held in one name only. Property brought into the marriage is still marital depending on the length of the marriage and what type of property it is. The court will be as fair as it can and sometimes the parties involved will make the right choices about being fair in the divorce.

It is always a good thing when a couple can make the appropriate decisions about how things should be split up before actually going to court. Both parties should have attorneys and this will help things progress along without having to worry about any legalities. This is the best way to protect each party’s assets and to make sure that the proceedings are fair.

Divorce Rights - Can one spouse prevent a divorce from happening?

Image by maethlin via Flickr

If one person does not want to get a divorce, but one party in the relationship does and it is a no fault divorce, then the spouse cannot stop the divorce. This is called an irreconcilable difference and is a justification for divorce.

A spouse can prevent a fault divorce by convincing the court that he or she is not at fault. This is something that they would have to prove and it is up to the judge to decide. There are other additional ways to defend a divorce from happening may also be a choice for some situations.

If a person who condones that a spouse is having an affair files for a divorce, the spouse may contest the fault divorce by arguing that the spouse knew of the affair and condoned the action. This is one way for a person to defend himself or herself in court.

Connivance is the setting up of a situation so that the other person commits something to jeopardize the marriage. One type of situation to explain is if a women sets up her husband in situation where he is alone with his mistress. This is known as a set up and it is an argument that one can make in court to defend their actions.

Provocation is the inciting of a spouse to do a certain act. If a spouse is suing for divorce and claims that the other spouse abandoned them, the other spouse might defend their suit because they were provoked by the abandonment. Collusion is if a couple lives in a state where no fault divorce requires that the couple separate for a time and the couple doe not want to prolong the situation. This may lead the couple to mislead the court and pretend that one of them was at fault just to get out of the marriage.

These above defenses are not usually used for a few different reasons. Proving a defense may require witnesses and involve a lot of time and expense. Your efforts will usually bring nothing to the situation. Chances are that a court will eventually grant the divorce. A person should not have to stay married if they do not wish too. The law is designed to give people the opportunity to get out of the marriage if that is what he or she really wants to do. If you are involved in a marriage that you don’t want to be in any longer, the process can be hard to get through, but you can make a divorce really happen, and put an end to the marriage.