When you may start facing issues in your marital relationship and finding it difficult to stay with each other. As a result, you want separation. But you may wonder which option to consider, i.e., legal separation or divorce. And what is the difference between legal separation and divorce?
What is the difference between legal separation and divorce?
If you find difficult to get the answer of your question (i.e., Do I need legal separation or divorce?), you should firstly know the difference between the them. So that you can make a decision accordingly, depending on your case and needs. Undoubtedly, legal separation is quite different than getting a divorce, but there are still some similarities, which you will also get to know later in this article.
So read till the end to have clarity on what legal separation and divorce are all about. And what’s the difference between legal separation and divorce?
WHAT IS LEGAL SEPARATION?
Legal separation is the agreement between two people who are still legally married but want to live apart. It’s more like putting your marriage on hold while living apart from each other. The legal separation agreement also specifies the terms for division of property, child custody, child support, asset division, etc. This simply means you are living separately, but there is still a marital relationship between you and your partner.
WHAT IS DIVORCE?
Divorce is legally ending your marital relationship, which means you have no relationship with your partner. To get the divorce, you have to agree on the terms of getting a divorce, i.e., division of property, child support, child custody, division of assets, alimony, etc., either one way or the other. Divorce is basically of two types: contested and uncontested. So the time, expenses, and harassment to get the divorce depend upon the type of divorce case you are filing for.
SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE TWO:
Before heading towards the difference between legal separation and divorce, let’s first look at the similarities between the two, which are as follows:
- Get space to live your own life, with your own terms and interests.
- You have no right to impose your decision on your partner.
- The cost, process, and time are almost the same in both cases.
- Get more information about things like the division of property, child support, child custody, alimony, the division of assets and debts, etc.
- Both legal separation and divorce need a court order and a legal agreement.
- You can make your own investment and retirement plans without the involvement of your partner.
- Both are formal ways of separation, but in different ways.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LEGAL SEPARATION AND DIVORCE:
The following points elaborate on the difference between the two:
- Legal separation means you are still entitled to married status. Because you still have a marital relationship with your partner. On the other hand, divorce means the end of the marital relationship and has no tag of married. And you have no relationship with your partner after getting a divorce. This marital tag specifies the main difference between legal separation and divorce.
- In case of a legal separation, if you want, you can retain some health care and social security benefits. But divorce simply means the termination of every benefit.
- Legal separation doesn’t allow you to remarry. Because you are already in a married relationship with your partner. But after getting a divorce, you can remarry whenever you want, without any obligations.
- Legal separation is easy to reverse, i.e., to re-unite. But you cannot reunite after a divorce. You can only remarry your ex-partner after divorce.
- In a legal separation, you can still retain medical and some financial decision-making rights. But after the divorce, you simply can’t hold or retain any of these rights.
- In the event of a legal separation, you are still liable for your partner’s debt. But after a divorce, there is a clear division of debt as well as assets. As a result, you are no longer responsible for the debt that your ex-partner incurred.
- When you are legally separated, you still have the right to the property of your partner if he or she dies. But after divorce, you have no right to any of the property or assets of your partner when he or she dies.
I hope these points (as discussed above) clarify your doubts regarding the difference between legal separation and divorce so that you can choose the one accordingly.
DO I NEED LEGAL SEPARATION OR DIVORCE ?
After considering the difference between legal separation and divorce, the next question that might come to mind is, “Do I need legal separation or divorce?” Well, that’s completely your personal preference.
If any of your known couples go for legal separation and it works great for them, that doesn’t mean that would be the right choice for you as well. What to go for is completely your choice, depending on your case and needs.
Like: If you still have some hope to re-unite and want to analyze how living separately works for both of you, then go for legal separation. Moreover, if you want to live separately but still want to continue medical insurance, tax benefits, or some financial protection, then again, legal separation is for you.
But if you want to get separated and even want to marry someone else, then go for the divorce option. Moreover, if you are sure that you are done with your partner and don’t bother about tax benefits, financial security, or other benefits of being together, then divorce is literally the right option for you.
So what to choose depends on what you want as you are getting separated. I hope this article will help you understand the difference between legal separation and divorce in a better way so that you can make the right decision.
