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What is a legal separation in divorce?
When a couple gets a legal separation, it is very similar to divorce. It will include the same process of filing papers with the court to start a legal process. The court next makes the decisions on where the children will live, debts, and assets in the event of a divorce. In the end, the parties are legally separated rather than being actually divorced. So in essence, this means that they are still married but not responsible for each other and what the other party does.
Generally a legal separation comes about in the final stages of a couple's arguments or issues in getting along. It can be a way of taking a breather and finding out what each party wants our of the relationship. For some people, there is no reason to rush into getting divorce because 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 attempt to work things out. However, there are some times where it will not work and the parties' involved decide to get a divorce. So no less than one year after the legal separation is granted, one of the parties can petition to convert the separation to a divorce. This can be done without further hearings and the other party cannot stop it from happening. People will sometimes chose the separation instead of a divorce because of any specific religious beliefs or for insurance purposes.
If the party does decide to get a divorce, it will terminate their marriage. In order to do that, parties at hand will go to court and decide how to handle questions of the children and how to divide their marital property. Each party is would be held accountable for one half of the marital debts.
Anything and everything that the couple bought while they were married is considered marital property. It does not matter whose name the object at hand is in or who actually bought or received it. Bank accounts, pensions, and stocks are all considered marital property even if they are held in one name only. Depending on the length of the marriage and what type of property it is, property brought into the marriage is still considered marital. The court will be as fair as possible and sometimes the parties involved will make their own best choices about how to be fair in the divorce.
It is always a good thing when a couple can make the appropriate choices about how things should be divided before actually going to court. Both parties should have attorneys and this will guide the progress without having to worry about any legalities. This is the best way to go in order to protect each party's assets and to make sure that the proceedings are fair.
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