Divorce

It can be possible to file for a legal separation in NY, known as a judgment of separation (to be granted by a judge) or sometimes parties will agree to draw up a legal separation agreement through their attorneys, which can be filed in court. It can be hard to do a legal separation agreement on one’s own since there are many specific requirements. Here is a link to the NY courts website, which explains separation agreements: http://www.nycourts.gov/courts/6jd/forms/SRForms/legal_separationproced.pdf And here is the law that discusses a judgment of separation, which a person files for in court and a judge can grant: http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/nycode/DOM/11/200

Often times when people are living apart, they say they are “separated” but there is no legal document separating them. A “legal separation” used to be the only no-fault way to get a divorce because then after one year, the separation agreement becomes the grounds to file for divorce. However, NY passed a no-fault divorce ground in the end of 2010 so even if there aren’t fault-based grounds for divorce, New Yorkers can now file under the no fault ground instead of doing a legal separation (if that is what they want). A separation agreement is usually negotiated between attorneys and handles all of the issues that would be handled in the divorce. Again, it would be complicated to write one up without a lawyer. Here is more info on divorce in NY: http://www.womenslaw.org/laws_state_type.php?statelaw_name=Divorce&state… Here is a link for private lawyers and free legal services in NY: http://www.womenslaw.org/gethelp_state_type.php?type_name=Finding%20a%20…

Also, a person who wants to leave a spouse but isn’t ready to divorce may be able to accomplish similar remedies by filing for various things in family court, such as child support, custody, and even spousal support. Here is some information about custody and child support in NY:http://www.womenslaw.org/laws_state_type.php?statelaw_name=Custody&state…