Legal Separations
Legal Separation is an action that is initiated by filing a Petition for Legal Separation. Unlike a divorce petition, there is no 90 day requirement to file for legal separation.
A legal separation can be granted if the marriage is irretrievably broken, or if one of the parties desires to live separate and apart from each other, and if the other party does not object to a decree of legal separation. If the other party objects to a decree of legal separation (and upon one of the parties meeting the 90 day requirement for a divorce), the court will order that the pleadings be amended to a Decree of Dissolution.
The biggest difference between a divorce and a legal separation is that with a divorce, you can re-marry. With a legal separation, you cannot re-marry and would have to file a separate action for divorce later if you wanted to re-marry someone else. Some people request a legal separation because of perhaps employment or insurance benefits that may exist for someone who is not divorced.
