Legal Separation Guide

A legal separation is a court order that can provide for custody of your children, parenting time, child support, and the distribution of property.

You might want a legal separation if your religious beliefs prohibit divorce or if you or your spouse have not lived in Oregon long enough to file for divorce. A legal separation costs about the same as a divorce. Filing for legal separation does not prevent a divorce from being filed, but a separation may also be converted to a divorce within a certain period.

The main difference between a legal separation and a divorce is that you are still married after a legal separation. Therefore, you may still have certain rights that you would lose upon divorce, such as the right to inherit property from your spouse.