What are the implications of a legal separation?
Full Question:
Answer:
In the State of Michigan the law does not contain any provisions that would specifically known as a legal separation, where you file a paper and you are immediately legally separated, nor are you required to be separated to file for a Michigan divorce. However, pursuant to Michigan law there is something known as a Michigan Separate Maintenance action, which many people think of, when they are looking for a legal separation in Michigan.
The procedure for obtaining a Judgment of Separate Maintenance in Michigan is substantially similar to the procedure for a divorce, but when a Judgment of Separate Maintenance is entered you are divorced from everything except the bounds of matrimony.
So, you cannot remarry if you have a Judgment of Separate Maintenance in Michigan. If you receive a Judgment of Separate Maintenance in Michigan and then later decide you do want a divorce, you will generally need to start a new case.
The only grounds for legal separation (separate maintenance) in Michigan is a breakdown of the marriage relationship to the extent that the objects of matrimony have been destroyed and there remains no reasonable likelihood that the marriage can be preserved. There is no residency requirement specified in the statute. [Michigan Compiled Laws Annotated; Section 552.7].
A separation agreement can help the spouses lay out the things that they agree will happen to the children, financial obligations, living arrangements and/or sexual relations.
