Legal separation provides a means for you and your spouse to live separate financial lives while remaining legally married. The purpose of a legal separation is to work out an agreement on the division of your assets, child custody, visitation, support and other issues important to you and your family. Legal separation is commonly used in the following situations:
- To obtain jurisdiction prior to the normal six month residency requirements for divorce.
- It allows couples to separate with a formal agreement on finances, custody and parenting time issues to attempt a reconciliation and to decide if divorce is what they truly want.
- It may provide a mechanism for retaining medical insurance which would be terminated by divorce.
- To avoid conflict with religious beliefs that conflict with the concept of divorce, allowing the parties to live separately and retain their marital status.
- To retain military benefits under the Uniform Services Former Spouse Protection Act which requires ten years of marriage.
- To retain Social Security benefits which require ten years of marriage.
- To enter into a Separation Contract which can be incorporated into a Decree of Dissolution should divorce become necessary.
THE RIGHT PORTLAND LEGAL SEPARATION ATTORNEY FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY
A legal separation requires the expertise and guidance of an experienced legal separation attorney well versed in legal separation laws. Legal separations often involve a host of complicated and sometimes highly contested issues, which range from the protection of financial assets to child custody and child support issues, spousal support issues as well as business ownership and investments.
Paul F. Sherman has been helping families obtain legal separations for over 23 years. Separation agreements offer greater flexibility and speed in the distribution of assets and obligations, custody agreements and parenting plans. A lot can happen during this phase in your life so you will want to make sure you have appropriate representation.
CONTACT PAUL F. SHERMAN FOR EXPERT ADVICE ON YOUR LEGAL SEPARATION.
We know you have more questions and we have the answers. If you would like to learn more about legal separation, call the Law Offices of Paul F. Sherman at (503) 223-8441 for expert legal advice or Contact Us for a free legal separation consultation.