Legal Question in Family Law in Kansas

Re: legal separtation

If you and your spouse separate, you can do it one of two ways. 1) an informal separation or 2) a formal legal separation. An informal separation is basically whatever the two of you agree for it to be. Typically, one of you would stay where the two of you were living before, and the other would move into some other place. You need not make any formal property division, but you would want to agree on some kind of arrangement about possession of things like cars, the bank accounts, the credit cards, and bill payments.

A formal legal separation is an agreement of husband and wife to live apart pursuant to the terms of a court order. The marriage bond remains, and remarriage is prohibited. The separated parties will be bound by the provisions of their agreement concerning spousal maintenance and the division of their property. A formal legal separation is more permanent, more complicated, and more expensive. It's also much less common. It's nearly as expensive as a divorce. People who get a formal legal separation often wind up having to go through much of the process again later to get an actual divorce. The main advantage of either kind of separation is that it's easily reversible. You can try it for a while, go through counseling, and then reconcile, or you can try it for a while and then proceed with divorce.

Cohabitation with another person during a period of separation is up to the good judgment and morals of the parties.