Separating and Getting Divorced: Difference between revisions
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{{JP Boyd on Family Law TOC|expanded = separation}} | {{JP Boyd on Family Law TOC|expanded = separation}} | ||
A couple ''separates'' when one or both spouses decide that their relationship is over and then take steps to carry out that decision. | A couple ''separates'' when one or both spouses decide that their relationship is over and then take steps to carry out that decision. When an unmarried couple separates, their relationship is over. The relationship of married spouses, on the other hand, isn't legally over until they are divorced or their marriage is annulled. | ||
This page takes a quick look at separation and divorce, both of which are discussed in greater detail in the pages that follow, and looks at a few urban myths about separation and divorce. Everything in this chapter applies to same-sex couples just as it does to opposite-sex couples. The do-it-yourself divorce process is reviewed in a fair amount of detail in the last page of this chapter, __________ . | |||
==Introduction== | ==Introduction== | ||
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===Separation=== | ===Separation=== | ||
Separation is simple: the parties must simply start living "separate and apart" from one another, whether under the same roof or in separate homes. Contrary to popular opinion, you do not need to see a lawyer or file some sort of court document to obtain a separation. You just need to call it quits and tell the other spouse that it's over. | Separation is simple: the parties must simply start living "separate and apart" from one another, whether under the same roof or in separate homes. Contrary to popular opinion, you do not need to see a lawyer or file some sort of court document to obtain a separation. You just need to call it quits and tell the other spouse that it's over. | ||
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#one or both of the spouses did not consent to the marriage; | #one or both of the spouses did not consent to the marriage; | ||
#a male spouse is impotent or a female spouse is sterile going into the marriage; | #a male spouse is impotent or a female spouse is sterile going into the marriage; | ||
#the marriage cannot be | #the marriage cannot be consummated; | ||
#the marriage was a sham; or, | #the marriage was a sham; or, | ||
#one or both of the spouses agreed to marry as a result of fraud or misrepresentation. | #one or both of the spouses agreed to marry as a result of fraud or misrepresentation. | ||
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It is also not true that a lack of sex in your relationship automatically ends your marriage, allows the marriage to be declared void, or is otherwise a ground of divorce. Sex has very little to do with divorce, just as it often has little to do with marriage. A lack of sex may spell the end of a relationship and spur a couple's separation, but at law whether you and your spouse are having sex or not is irrelevant. | It is also not true that a lack of sex in your relationship automatically ends your marriage, allows the marriage to be declared void, or is otherwise a ground of divorce. Sex has very little to do with divorce, just as it often has little to do with marriage. A lack of sex may spell the end of a relationship and spur a couple's separation, but at law whether you and your spouse are having sex or not is irrelevant. | ||
The one exception to this last rule has to do with the " | The one exception to this last rule has to do with the "consummation" of the marriage, and this exception doesn't mean what most people think it means. A marriage does not need to be consummated to be a valid, binding marriage. In order to escape a marriage on this ground, you or your partner must, I kid you not, have an "invincible repugnance" to the act of sexual intercourse or some physicial condition which makes sex impossible. | ||
==Further Reading in this Chapter== | ==Further Reading in this Chapter== |