What is a legal separation in
divorce?
When a couple gets a
legal separation, it is somewhat like a
divorce. It involves the same process of filing papers with the
court in order to start a legal action. The court will then have to
make the decisions about where the children will go, 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.
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 break 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
prevent it from happening. People will sometimes have the separation
instead of a divorce because of certain religious beliefs or for
insurance purposes.
If the party does decide to legally get a divorce, it will
completely terminate their marriage. In order to do that, parties at
hand will go to court and chose how to handle questions of the
children and how to divide their marital property. Each party is
would be responsible 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 it can and sometimes the parties involved will
make their own choices about being fair in the divorce.
It is always a good thing when a couple can try to make their own
decisions about how things should be split up before they actually
go to court. Both parties should have attorneys regardless of old
arrangements between the couple. 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.
Los Angeles and Orange County divorce lawyers
and attorneys
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