What is the difference between an Absolute Divorce and a Legal Separation in the District of Columbia?
An Absolute Divorce represents the end of the marriage between you and your spouse. It is permanent, allows you to remarry, and divides your marital property interests and marital debt. Grounds for an Absolute Divorce: • Mutual and Voluntary Separation for Six Months. This requires that both parties to the marriage have mutually and voluntarily lived separate and apart without cohabitation (even if the separation is under the same roof) for a period of six months prior to filing the divorce case. If at first one spouse does not agree to the separation or believes that the separation might be a trial separation, the separation may become voluntary at a later time. • Continuous Separation for One Year. This requires that both parties have lived separate and apart continuously, without cohabitation (even if the separation is under the same roof) for one year prior to filing the divorce case. A Legal Separation does not end the marriage. You remain married to your spouse and therefore may
