If you are going through marital difficulties, you may want time and space in order to decide what to do about your marriage. However, you may not wish to live with your spouse during this period. In this scenario and many others, a legal separation may be the answer. A legal separation means that you do not have to live together but it does not bring your marriage to an end. To find out what is involved in a legal separation and if it works for you, call one of our expert family lawyers now for bespoke advice.

There are a number of reasons why someone might seek to apply for judicial separation as opposed to divorce; some of these are as follows:

• A decree of judicial separation can be sought at any time during a marriage. Unlike divorce, there is no requirement to wait for a year after the marriage. It also means that anyone who has been married for less than a year and requires financial support by way of a court order may benefit from judicial separation.
• The parties may have religious reasons for not wanting to commence divorce proceedings. This decree offers an alternative in this scenario.
• The parties may want some time and space to consider their different alternatives and decide if and when they want to end the marriage.

The grounds on which a decree of legal or judicial separation can be obtained are the same grounds as divorce: These are:

• Adultery of either or both parties.
• Unreasonable behaviour of either or both parties.
• A 2 year separation of the parties by mutual consent.If one party has left or deserted the other for a period of 2 years.
• A 5 year separation of the parties.

There are a number of differences between obtianing a divorce and a judicial separation: Of course, the obvious one is that a legal separation is just that whilst a divorce will bring the actual marriage to an end. Other differences include the fact that in judicial separation proceedings:

• There is no requirement to wait for a year to commence separation proceedings as there is with divorce;
• There is no requirement to prove that the marriage has broken down irretrievably.
• Unlike divorce, the separation process does not dissolve the marriage
• Judicial separation does not have the same affect on pensions as divorce as the parties are technically still married.

There are a number of legal and practical effects of a legal or judicial separation:

• There is no obligation for either of the parties to live together;
• The courts can make an order in relation to the division of the matrimonial property;
• If one of the spouse dies intestate the surviving spouse will not benefit unless there is a valid will made stating that to be the case.