A Legal Separation Lawyer: A Lawyer For The Transition Phase
Legal separation is not the same as divorce, as people often mistake it to be. When a court of law refers to legal separation, they mean two parties who are living separate, but who are still married to each other. It is usually the thing that people tend to seek when they are in the process of getting a divorce, or just before that. Most times, legal separation ends up in a divorce settlement, but it is, after all, a process in itself that should not be taken lightly, Getting a good legal separation lawyer is essential to ensure that you have a smooth process and don’t encounter any hiccups along the way. Legal separation can be hard for many reasons, which is why it is important to have someone by your side who can guide you and help you make rational decisions that work for your benefit.
When Should You Opt For A Legal Separation Lawyer
1. To Get Proper Maintenance
There are many things that take place when one seeks legal separation. For starters, either spouse has to pay the other a certain amount of legal maintenance. This amount is usually set by the court of law, or in some cases, behind closed doors. Whatever the means of settling this amount, having legal aid by your side during this process can help you in understanding the finer aspects of this, and help you get the best deal out of the legal separation.
2. To Get Child Custody
Legal separations and divorces often involve children. Parents often face the most significant fights over who gets to have the main custody of the child, which often ends up in a court of law. During legal separation, one parent does get primary custody of a child, while the other gets either partial custody, visitation, or no custody at all, depending on the kind of situation the parties are dealing with. Child custody is a sensitive topic, which is why it becomes hard for the parties involved to decide without getting their emotions involved. This often results into hasty decisions, which may end up working against the parties favor, than for. Having a good separation lawyer on your side helps give you an additional perspective to the issue, helping you come to a proper decision and agreement. Lawyers always work in the best interests of the client, to ensure that they get what they deserve, and to ensure that they stay on track during the proceedings and trials of this process.
3. To Divide Property
Property division is also an essential aspect of legal separation. While the court of law does not divide the property during this period, it does decide who gets what assets and properties for the time being, and helps them come to an agreement about the living arrangements of both parties if not agreed on already. Separation lawyers help their clients get the assets that they need during this period, and ensure that nothing essential is ever left out.
Helping With The Next Step
Legal separation is a trial process before a couple decides definitively, that they do want to go through with a divorce. This time can end up in either direction, either with the couple breaking the legal separation and living together once again, or going through with a divorce agreement. Whichever direction the party might choose, there are a lot of formalities that need to be done to ensure the proper transition of this phase. Separation lawyers know how to deal with this, and are well versed in dealing with cases of varying kinds, which is why they are a necessity to have by your side during these times.
How do I find out if he actually filed for a separation?
In a regular divorce proceeding Hollywood and TV shows make the legal filing dramatic and tense, with soon to be ex-spouses finding out about their impending dissolution by entire surprise or, even worse, when their character is just reaching the top of the world in the episode script. While it is true that a divorce request is actually provided through a legal court notice after one part or both submit a filing in a local court, a separation of marriage filing is not so cut and dry.
First, the nature of a separation of marriage not outright ordered by a court doesn’t lend itself to surprise. A marriage separation is based on a written agreement, like a contract, with multiple terms spelled out detailing either spouse’s responsibilities going forward. Because this process requires a contemplated, negotiated produced between two people, and because both people need to sign the agreement to make it effective, it is not possible to file a marriage separation by surprise.
Second, a separation of marriage filing doesn’t fall into default, standardized filings. Each separation has to be crafted by the parties involved, which makes each one unique and dissimilar from other marriage separation filings.
However, all the above assumes that people are behaving in a legal, allowable manner. If someone was being fraudulent, on the other hand, it’s technically possible that the person could forge another spouse’s signature and file the marriage separation with a court to make it official. The ruse, however, would only last until the second spouse realized what occurred and protested the matter, proving the original filing was a fake. Then the court would issue a bench warrant for the first spouse’s arrest for a number of things including fraud, contempt of court, filing a false court document and a bit more. Long story short, the penalties would be pretty severe on the suspect, including the anger of the court being duped.
Why someone would want to go to the trouble of a fake marriage separation defies normal logic. There’s not really much, if anything, gained from doing so. In just about every case, a marriage separation involves terms of compromise, where either party involved has to give up something to make the agreement work. The idea for the tool is to allow a married couple to sort out the daily financial issues and try out a separation before a final divorce situation is approved. In some cases, parties get back together and reconcile when they get a glimpse of life separated. So the filing is not the sort of thing that gives anyone a sudden financial advantage worth stealing with a fake marriage separation attempt. And the penalties with getting caught clearly outweigh such a dumb move.
Can our marriage be annulled if he has been deported?
Annulment is a common way to end a marriage. Unlike a divorce, annulment doesn’t officially end the marriage. Instead, it invalidates the original marriage contract, making it as though the marriage never existed in the first place. If your spouse has been deported, you may be wondering if annulment of your marriage is possible.
To get a marriage annulled, you must have grounds for annulment. This means that the marriage adheres to one of several specific situations outlined in the law. Your spouse being deported is not one of these outlined grounds, so you cannot get an annulment simply due to the deportation. With that said, annulment is sometimes possible if fraud occurred in the marriage.
Ending a Marriage
Legally speaking, a marriage can end in two ways. When a marriage is ended, both spouses are free to live their lives individually and to remarry if they wish. Divorce and annulment are the only ways to end a legal marriage. A couple who divorces is acknowledging that they were in a valid marriage and wish to dissolve it. With annulment, the couple says their marriage was not valid to begin with. There are a number of circumstances that can make a marriage valid for annulment.
Annulment Rules State to State
Marriage laws are different across the United States. Each state has specific procedures that their courts follow regarding marriage, divorce, annulment, and separation. It’s important to be familiar with the annulment laws in your state of residence. This is the jurisdiction in which you’ll file your motion. One of the most important things you can do is get in contact with an experienced family law attorney who knows the ins and outs of your jurisdiction.
One common reason for annulment in many states is that one party was forced or threatened into the marriage. This means they did not freely consent to the agreement. As such, the marriage contract is not legally enforceable, and the court will dissolve it.
There are other reasons for annulment as well. If one or both of the parties were underage at the time of the marriage, this may be grounds for annulment. An underage person may not be able to consent to marriage. People with mental disabilities may also be unable to consent to marriage if they do not understand the contract they’re entering.
Traditionally, lack of consummation could be used as a reason for annulment. Some states still allow this as a reason. Incest and bigamy are other causes for annulment. Incestuous and bigamous marriages are not legal, and therefore cannot be upheld by the court.
Fraud
One of the biggest reasons annulments happen is due to fraud. Depending on the circumstances behind your spouse’s deportation, fraud may apply to your marriage. There have been cases in the past where failure to disclose a positive HIV status is considered fraud. Certain states have established that if another woman is pregnant by the man, and he did not tell his spouse before the marriage, this also counts as a fraudulent act.
Marital fraud occurs when the marriage is a way for one spouse to get a United States green card. In this case, deportation won’t cause annulment, but the initial marital fraud is cause for annulment.
Annulment Court
For an annulment to be legally binding, a courtroom judge needs to authorize it. Both parties involved in the proceeding must be notified that the hearing is taking place. Notification can sometimes be impossible when an individual has been deported. In some states, this will keep the annulment from going forward. You’ll be legally required to serve the spouse with papers. They must also be able to attend the divorce proceedings. A deported spouse cannot do this.
Final Conclusion
If you believe your marriage was built on fraudulent grounds, you may be able to build a case to have the marriage dissolved. The process for annulment will vary depending on the state. Some states will not let you annul a marriage without the deported person able to participate in the proceedings.
If you have no reason for the annulment except the deportation, you won’t have the legal grounds to go forward. Fraud is an essential element of annulment cases. If fraud wasn’t an issue, you must get divorced instead.
No matter how you want to end your marriage, it’s important to talk to an experienced attorney about the best options for your case. You may have to track down your spouse to proceed.
