Legal Question in Family Law in Oregon

You do it in the same way as if you were filing for divorce and child support together.

A legal separation is a court order that states who gets the children, who pays support for the children, whether spousal support is ordered, and who gets what property. You might want a legal separation if your religious beliefs prohibit divorce, if you or your spouse have not lived in Oregon long enough to file for divorce, or if one of you needs to be covered by the other�s medical insurance. A legal separation costs about the same as a divorce. Filing for legal separation does not prevent a divorce from being filed.

The main difference between a legal separation and a divorce is that you are still married after a legal separation. Therefore, you still have the right to inherit property from your spouse if you are legally separated. If you are divorced, you lose that right.

Forms are available online and may be available from local courthouses. For example, see the Clackamas County family court Forms list at: :

http://courts.oregon.gov/Clackamas/Forms.page#Family_Law

(Scroll down to "legal separation."

Just change the name of the county at the top of the first page (if you are in a county other than Clackamas) and you will be good to go.

LAWRENCE D. GORIN

http://ldgorin.justia.net/index.com

Law Office of L.D. Gorin

6700 S.W. 105th Ave., Suite 104

Beaverton, Oregon 97008

Phone: 503-716-8756

Fax: 503-646-1128

E-mail: [email protected]