What are the differences between a divorce and a legal separation?
The basic difference between a divorce and a legal separation is the status of the parties at the end of the proceedings. In a divorce, there is no legal relationship between the parties, other than the respective obligations for each parent in a parenting plan, and of course, the related child support obligation. In a legal separation, the parties remain married. As in divorce, the assets and debts are divided, the parties agree on the parenting and child support obligations, but they don’t take the final step to have the legal relationship between the parties dissolved as it is in a divorce.
