San Diego Legal Separation Attorney

Legal Separation vs. Divorce – What’s the Difference?

Much like divorce, legal separation involves the elements of property division, child custody, and child support matters. The key difference is that even though the parties will no longer share finances, property, or custody of their children, they are still legally married. This means that the parties are not free to remarry or enter into a domestic partnership until they decide to divorce their spouse.

The Benefits of Legal Separation

Couples may choose legal separation for any of the following reasons:

• Divorce violates the couple’s religious beliefs
• The couple has not yet met California’s six-month residency requirement for divorce
• The couple wishes to separate their finances without terminating spousal status (i.e. to keep benefits or medical insurance)
• The couple wishes to quickly separate finances before the tax year ends
• The couple wants the immediate effect of legal separation, whereas divorce can take a minimum of six months

How to File for Legal Separation in San Diego

As mentioned, in a legal separation, you will need to come to an agreement regarding custody, child and spousal support, and how to divide property and assets, as well as any other similar issues. The actual filing process is quite simple—the complicated part is figuring out the aforementioned issues and making sure they are solved in a way that respects your rights and best interest.

The process for filing for legal separation in California is as follows:

• Meet the grounds for legal separation, such as irreconcilable differences
• File a petition and pay the filing fee
• Serve the petition to separate to your spouse
• Submit financial disclosures to the family court

Reasons to Hire a Separation Attorney

The most common reason for hiring a separation lawyer is to ensure that your legal separation is completed correctly, as well as to make sure it will work in the long term. Should you decide to end your marriage, the terms of your legal separation will likely carry over to your divorce. That means whatever custody or support arrangements you have when separated will then be set in stone.

As for why to choose Moore, Schulman & Moore, APC, here are just a few reasons:

• Ten of our attorneys are Board Certified Family Law Specialists
• We have more than 200 years of combined family law experience
• We are skilled in both mediation and litigation
• We respond quickly and are always available to our clients
• We are known as San Diego’s Family Law Experts®

Compassionate Counsel, Cost-Effective Solutions

The San Diego legal separation lawyers at Moore, Schulman & Moore, APC take pride in adhering to the highest standards of excellence when it comes to representing our clients. We understand that a legal separation can be an emotionally trying time for couples and families, which is why we strive to help you get your separation agreement as efficiently and favorably as possible.

Consult a separation attorney in San Diego. Contact Moore, Schulman & Moore, APC online or by calling (858) 492-7968 today!