Helping Spouses Establish Legal Separation
At Lonich Patton Ehrlich Policastri, our family law attorneys represent clients across a broad demographic spectrum, with a wide range of needs and interests. A number of our clients are involved in marriages where communication has broken down and they have grown apart from their spouse. For personal economic, business or religious reasons, however, they may not want their marriage dissolved. Legal separation is an attractive option for these clients.
What Is Legal Separation?
Legal separation is the equivalent of a divorce, except the legal ties that created the marriage remain intact. A legal separation allows spouses to lead separate personal lives while maintaining many of the financial and insurance benefits of marriage. As with divorce, legal separation addresses many of the financial and children issues facing families:
- Property division
- Child custody and visitation
- Child support
- Spousal support
- Business ownership interests
The agreements that comprise the legal separation agreement are often the basis for the divorce settlement, should that later occur. Therefore, it is important to carefully develop legal separation agreements which take into account the future impact of all personal and financial decisions.
Legal separation might be the right option for many people, including people who do not meet California’s six-month residency requirement for divorce or who have not been in the United States for at least three months. However, in other cases, seeking an annulment in conjunction with a divorce can accomplish our clients’ objectives.
We work closely with our clients seeking legal separation to understand their goals and objectives. Then, we provide legal advice and representation targeted at meeting their goals.