What is the difference between divorce or annulment and separate maintenance?
A divorce or annulment is filed for the purpose of dissolving the marriage. Along with this, the court also has jurisdiction to enter orders pertaining to custody of minor children, support of minor children, payment of support or maintenance to either spouse, division of property, division or payment of debts, and other relief as might be appropriate. In a separate maintenance case, the court has jurisdiction to enter the same relief as can be granted in either a divorce or an annulment, as just described, but the difference is that the marriage is not dissolved. In other words, following entry of a Decree of Separate Maintenance, the parties are still legally married, and can not marry any other person without going through a separate divorce or annulment proceeding. This type of proceeding is not often used, but may be desirable for persons who have religious, philosophical, or personal reasons for opposing the dissolution of the marriage, but can no longer live together as husband
