What is the importance of being separated?
Syrtash & Grunwald: One of the ways to establish marriage breakdown under the Divorce Act is to prove that the spouses have lived apart (have been separated) for at least one year immediately before the divorce judgment and were living separate and apart at the time the proceedings began. A divorce proceeding cannot begin until after the parties have begun separation, and cannot be finalized until that separation has been for at least one full year. The date of separation is also important under the Family Law Act when calculating equalization payments. The date that the spouses separate is the most common valuation date, and is used to work out the equalization amount to be paid.
