Legal separation is a divorce alternative allowing spouses to remain married but separate their lives in all other practical ways. You can get a legal separation in Ohio through the same basic steps as a divorce, including filing with the court to obtain court orders related to childcare, property, and spousal support. 

A Vantage Group Legal Services subscription can connect you with an Ohio family lawyer who can help you determine whether legal separation or divorce is right for you. Reach out to set up a consultation.

What Is a Legal Separation in Ohio?

You may have heard the law offers some alternatives to divorce, but what is a legal separation in Ohio? 

In short, legal separation is a divorce that doesn’t change your marital status. When you get separated, you need to resolve the following issues:

  • Parental rights and responsibilities (child custody and support),
  • Division of assets and debts, and
  • Spousal support.

You and your spouse can agree on those issues in writing or ask the court to decide. Either way, you ask a court to issue an order to make the separation official.

Separating from Your Spouse Under Ohio Law

Ohio law offers several ways to separate from your spouse:

Process-wise, legal separation is most similar to divorce. 

Parental Rights and Responsibilities

Ohio child custody is decided based on the best interests of the child and parental rights and responsibilities. When parents separate, the child usually lives with one parent most of the time. The parent they live with has physical custody and is the custodial parent. If the child splits time living with each parent, both may be custodial parents. Otherwise, the other parent is the noncustodial parent.

The court typically retains each parent’s right to raise their child as they see fit. This right to decide important matters about the child is called having legal custody. Ohio calls it shared parenting when parents share legal custody, but one parent has physical custody.

Along with parents’ right to raise their children, they are responsible for supporting them until they become adults. When parents live separately, the noncustodial parent typically meets this obligation by paying child support.

Division of Assets and Debts

Married couples share most of the property that their spouse acquires during marriage as marital property. When you legally separate from your spouse, you divide marital property and debts even though you remain married.

Marital property doesn’t include property that either spouse:

  • Acquired before marriage or after separation;
  • Acquires through inheritance or gift;
  • Passively earns from their individual property;
  • Excludes in a premarital or marital agreement; or
  • Receives from a personal injury lawsuit.

Nonmarital property is separate property. Debts, too, are subject to division as separate or marital.

Ohio courts typically divide marital property and debts equally. Yet, they may award more property to one spouse than the other if the unequal division is fairer based on the following:

  • The length of marriage;
  • The spouses’ separate and marital assets and liabilities, including retirement benefits;
  • The value of raising children in the family home;
  • How liquid the property is, whether it’s more economically desirable to retain certain assets, and the costs associated with selling assets; 
  • Tax consequences; 
  • Misconduct by one spouse that decreases the value of property; and
  • A spouse’s failure to disclose or attempts to hide property.

Courts are more likely to distribute property unevenly if one spouse misuses property or tries to hide assets.

Spousal Support

Spouses owe a duty to support each other. Upon separation, one spouse can request the other pay spousal support (alimony).

Courts rely on many factors to decide whether to order spousal support, including the spouses’:

  • Income, assets, retirement benefits, and relative earning capacities;
  • Time together as a married couple;
  • Ages and health;
  • Standard of living;
  • Parental and employment responsibilities;
  • Contributions to each other’s education, training, or career and any lost income or opportunities resulting from that support;
  • Levels of education and the cost and time for the spouse requesting support to gain employable skills; and
  • Tax consequences.

When you get a legal separation rather than a divorce or dissolution, the court may be more likely to order spousal support without a specific end date. 

How to File for Legal Separation in Ohio

If you understand how to file for divorce in Ohio, you know how to file for legal separation in Ohio. The basic steps in the legal separation process include:

  • Preparing to file,
  • Filing for legal separation,
  • Resolving core issues, and
  • Receiving a legal separation order.

In the end, you get a court order establishing the terms of your separation.

Preparing to File 

Preparing to file primarily means completing paperwork to explain to the court what you want. You’ll gather documents, consult an attorney, and develop a case plan.

Before you file for divorce, you must meet specific Ohio divorce residency requirements. However, there is no Ohio legal separation residency requirement. You can request legal separation before you’ve lived in Ohio for six months.

Filing Your Case

Once you’re ready, you file a legal “complaint” or “petition” by submitting documents to the county court where you or your spouse live. The spouse who initiates the case is the petitioner or plaintiff, while the other spouse is the respondent.

The petitioner needs to serve their filings on the respondent. Usually, you can request that the court serve the papers for you. Then, the respondent files an “answer” or “response” to the complaint.

Resolving Core Issues

You must resolve core separation issues like childcare, property division, and spousal support if you haven’t yet. Courts may order you to take advantage of mediation, or your lawyer may encourage you to do so. There, a neutral mediator leads you and your spouse through a conversation to reach terms collaboratively.

Courts are empowered to order conciliation procedures—attempts to reconcile you and your spouse. Conciliation procedures can last up to 90 days and typically involve marriage or family counseling.

Receiving Your Legal Separation Order

Finally, the court issues an enforceable order making your separation terms official. If you want to restore your marriage to its previous state, you submit paperwork—signed by both spouses—requesting the court terminate the separation order. You may also request dissolution or divorce during or after the legal separation process.

How Long Can You Be Legally Separated in Ohio?

Some states limit how long a couple can be legally separated before they must reconcile or divorce. So, how long can you be legally separated in Ohio? 

Ohio law doesn’t limit the length of legal separation. You can be separated for the rest of your life if you want.

Legal Separation vs. Divorce in Ohio

What’s the primary difference in legal separation vs. divorce in Ohio? Both have the same effect of disentangling spouses’ lives, but only one results in the end of the couple’s legal status as married. 

But what does it mean for two people to be married but legally separated? For most intents and purposes, your lives look the same as a divorced couple. For example, you typically stop qualifying for marital tax benefits. 

There are some minor differences. For example, the court’s powers to change a divorce-related spousal support order are limited. However, the court can modify a spousal support order for legally separated spouses in more circumstances.

There are two significant differences between legal separation and divorce. First, a divorce is permanent. If you divorce and decide to reconcile later, you have to get remarried. If you separate and decide to reconcile later, you can undo the separation. 

Second, a person who is legally separated cannot remarry. Since your marriage never ended, you commit bigamy by marrying someone else while legally separated. Bigamy not only results in a legally invalid marriage but is a crime.

Filing for Legal Separation in Ohio

It can be difficult to know what to file, when, and how to file it when you want to separate from your spouse in Ohio. A family lawyer can help you decide what to do and guide you through what you choose, and Vantage Group Legal Services can help you find an attorney.

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