Legally Separated Vs Divorce

The difference between separation and divorce A separation is when two people who have been living together as a married or common-law couple decide to live apart. If you're married, separation doesn't end the marriage. A divorce is when a court officially ends a marriage.

The filing cost for a legal separation in California is currently $435, but that cost may vary in Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Francisco counties. Many issues are treated similarly to divorce during the legal separation process, such as property, assets, debt, and child custody.

To ask the judge to reverse a legal separation order, you typically would use a title such as "Motion to Dismiss" or "Motion to Vacate Order." Usually the title is centered two lines below the caption in bold-face type. Some jurisdictions format the title differently, such as underlined or in all-caps.

People choose legal separation instead of divorce because of religious beliefs, a desire to keep the family together legally for the sake of children, the need for one spouse to keep the health insurance benefits that would be lost with a divorce, or simple aversion to divorcing despite the desire to live separate

Does Wisconsin Recognize Legal Separation? Yes, and the process is nearly identical to divorce. If you have lived in Wisconsin for at least 60 days, you may file a petition for legal separation with the court.The petition must include a legal reasonor, groundsfor your request.

A legal separation case commences in Wisconsin with the filing of a petition in the circuit court in the county where at least one of the spouses resides. The parties may file a joint petition for legal separation. By filing a joint petition, the sheriff does not serve "separation papers" on a non-filing party.

You would need to get a court to approve this decision and come up with an agreement that divides property and figures out the plan for your children. Since divorce and legal separation are pretty similar, they may cost about the same and take around the same amount of time to process.

Since couples who separate are still legally married, they still enjoy the many benefits of marriage. Separated spouses are still entitled to participate in family health insurance plans, receive spousal retirement benefits, and take advantage of income tax benefits by filing a joint return.

If you're having serious problems with your spouse, a divorce might seem like the only way to split off and protect your finances. However, a legal separation may offer the same protection as a divorce and in some cases works out better.