Legal Separation

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Legal separation (sometimes "judicial separation", "separate maintenance", "divorce a mensa et thoro", or "divorce from bed-and-board") is a legal process by which a married couple may formalize a de facto separation while remaining legally married. A legal separation is granted in the form of a court order, which can be in the form of a legally-binding consent decree. The most common reason for filing with the courts for a legal separation is to make interim financial arrangements for the two of them, such as deciding which one will pay which bills, possess which property, and whether one of them shall pay the other temporary financial support. These financial arrangements are actually what the term "separate maintenance" refers to, and "separate maintenance" is not a synonym for "legal separation".