Legal Separation in Washington: What Is It?
A legal separation in Washington State retains the official status of being your marital status. This means that once you are legally separated from your spouse, you are still legally married to your spouse. On the other hand, a divorce is a term used to describe a legal ending of a marriage . Thus, the major distinction between the two concepts is that while a separation would allow you to live independently from your spouse, a divorce legally ends the relationship. To be legal, separation requires you to file a case under the Dissolution Act. Your matter will proceed at a court just as though you were getting a divorce. Thus, you may be required to do some or all of the following:
Financial Disadvantages of Legal Separation
In addition to the non-financial limitations of legal separation, you also need to consider the financial implications of separating from your spouse. Much like the costs of divorce, legal separation will accrue legal fees and costs for things like your attorney’s time and court costs. While you might be able to resolve your legal separation without a lot of cost, there are always issues that are contested or still require input from the attorney. In general, costs can quickly mount along with the divorce processes specifically on doing things like having assets appraised and dividing them.
Along with legal fees, you will also still have to split assets while maintaining any obligations for alimony and child support. Since permanent spousal support is used in both divorce and legal separation, as well as the state’s division of community property laws, the court will divide the community property.
Unlike divorce however, there is no fixed time limit for a legal separation so you may be tied financially to your spouse indefinitely. That means whatever financial ties you have, like a mortgage, car loans, etc. cannot be dissolved until the legal separation is amended into a divorce. While you can ask the court to divide certain items up as part of a legal separation agreement, there is no guarantee it will happen and you still need to go through the entire process again when you amend the separation into a divorce. Of course, time costs money and for too many (especially if you’re unsure of the end results), a legal separation can often result in more legal and court costs on top of the emotional costs of being separated from your spouse.
An important consideration is the custody arrangements you may have for children. Washington law accepts this, but if you are at all concerned about the children’s welfare, there may be a better arrangement than a legal separation.
Social and Emotional Drawbacks
Legal separation is not always an optimal marital solution. Many couples report feeling increased stress, disappointment and stigma from their decision to live apart rather than divorced. These difficulties often extend beyond the adults in the family. If you choose legal separation over divorce, your spouse will still have the right to collect spousal maintenance (formerly known as spousal support) from you, unless you have agreed to give it up. Many couples split financial and household responsibilities along gender lines the way they might if they were still living together. Since Washington State is a Community Property State, the courts will divide shared property during a legal separation or divorce. Like physical separation, legal separation places additional distance between spouses. This separation can increase stress in already-strained marriages. In addition to dealing with feelings of marital inadequacy, you may experience misunderstandings with family members, disapproval from friends and relatives and social stigma as you navigate the single life. Separation often leads to divorce – and divorce is often more challenging to get than separation. If you plan to resume your life together after a period apart, a legal separation might work well. On the other hand, if you believe that the separation step will lead to an eventual divorce, a legal separation might prevent you from successfully completing that goal.
Custody and Support Issues
When it comes to separation, we often consider the impact on child custody. After all, how can a child best divide their time between parents once they have decided to no longer live together? Parents want to maintain their parental rights, while meeting the needs of their children to the best of their abilities. When you legally separate, it is up to the parents to determine custody arrangements, or the court can help, if there is a dispute. If you reach an agreement regarding your separation, then it is typically put in place within the orders provided to the separation agreement. Keep in mind that these terms can be revised in the future, if the circumstances should merit a change. When parents decide to separate, they must consider if the separation will greatly affect their child custody parenting plan. Since the separation may affect where the child lives, travels, and the time spent with each parent, it could mean making adjustments to their schedule. If the parents are still living in the same home, however, there may be no need to change the custody arrangement. Conversely, if the parents have left their residence and are living in different homes, they will need to make adjustments to their parenting plan. When they cannot agree on the new arrangements, they may seek assistance from the courts. One of the simpler aspects of a separation is keeping child support obligations in place. When the parents share the time equally with the child, or nearly so, they may not need to change their child support agreement as deemed in their final dissolution decree. However, in a case in which one parent has more physical custody of the child, it may be necessary to change the child support award. The factor contributing to the child support amount is the Parent Time Credit, which is calculated by the Washington State Child Support Schedule worksheet. The parent without the children 50 percent of the time or more is usually awarded child support payments to help offset the household expenses while raising the children in their own home.
Procedural Limitations of Legal Separation
Like any alternative to divorce, legal separation has its risks. Unlike divorce, legal separation will not result in a final property settlement, division of assets, or legal changes of status for personal information such as an address, name, bank account, or credit card account. As a legally separate couple, you do not have the same protections provided by Washington family law.
If you live under the same roof but are not legally divorced, both spouses can make decisions that adversely impact the welfare of the other spouse. For instance, either spouse can sell marital assets (including jointly owned vehicles) without consequence. Decisions related to minor, adult, and dependent children can be made by either spouse without input from the other. And while a legal separation may be a court-protected order, it can still be altered by lawsuit or other means – up to and including harassment charges if one spouse violates the other spouse’s right to personal space .
If you’re considering legal separation, you will still need to prepare for a divorce. Since you are still legally married, you will still need to divide your assets when the divorce is finalized. You will also need to file all required paperwork and appear in court if any issues cannot be resolved outside of court. In some instances, courts will refuse to grant a divorce without first awarding legal separation.
There is no right timeline for legal separation. Marriage can be a painful relationship that strains the limits of emotional and physical health. Legal separation provides a path to recovery for some couples. Others find that once they are separated and learning to function as single people, with the knowledge that their spouse is just down the street, their willingness to work on the marriage dissipates and the marriage ends in divorce.
Uncertainty, Duration, and Legal Standing
In the majority of cases, obtaining a legal separation is not a simple or isolated event in and of itself. Instead, in most cases, the legal separation is essentially just a first step down the path of ending a marriage or registered domestic partnership. A court may approve the legal separation for a definite period of time to give the couple a chance to work things out, but if it becomes clear over time that reconciliation is not possible, the couple eventually will return to court to split their assets and divide their debts through a divorce or a termination of their domestic partnership. Although for some couples the legal separation is a long-term arrangement that provides some situational and psychological benefits without the stigma of divorce, in the majority of cases, however, the legal separation is primarily an interim step that a couple takes on the way to one of those final outcomes. What this means is that when a couple obtains a legal separation, their marital status is still in a form of limbo. For some couples who are married, this generally does not create many problems, because as long as they are not divorced, they will not get married to someone else. But in Washington State, when a legal or registered domestic partnership reaches a point at which the couple begins to live apart or separates, they no longer are considered domestic partners, yet they do not become single unless their partnership is dissolved, i.e. they are not legally able to marry someone else or enter into another domestic partnership. This imprecision in legal status – in particular the fact that the couple may not be legally single even though they are separated or living apart and raising the specter that they may inadvertently begin cohabitating again, which would reopen an entire set of issues related to property and debt division – means that a legal separation almost always is a temporary fix in pursuit of a final solution.
The Bottom Line – Should you File a Legal Separation?
Weighing the disadvantages we’ve discussed against your individual circumstances will help guide your decision as to whether legal separation is right for you. Here are some additional points to consider before making your decision to legally separate: One final point of review should also be to check the legal separation laws of the state in which you reside , as they vary by state. Because all marriages are different, weighing these factors can be a highly individualized process. A legal professional is well placed to help guide you through the potential benefits and drawbacks specific to your situation.