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You might no longer wish to continue living with your spouse, yet you’re not yet ready to get a divorce. Perhaps your home has become a constant battleground, a source of stress more than anything else. Perhaps you wish to separate from your spouse to see if the marriage is really over.
Or, if you have kids, perhaps you’re concerned about how your marital difficulties are affecting them. It is the conflict in the home, not a divorce per se, that is most emotionally destructive to children.
It doesn’t matter if you shout at each other or not. It’s the way you, as parents, might be interacting within the home that can be the most emotionally damaging to kids. Whether or not you decide to get divorced now or later, it’s important to know the legal ramifications of your decision.
People often ask if they can get a legal separation in New Jersey. But, unlike some other states, New Jersey does not recognize a legal separation; essentially, you’re either married or divorced. This means that even though you are living apart, sometimes for many years, New Jersey still considers you legally married.
What does this mean?
First, any debts that your spouse might incur – even while you’re living apart – could potentially be considered marital debts for which you could be liable.
By the same token, assets that you acquire while separated could potentially be considered marital assets and entitle your spouse to share in the value.
What does this mean if you have an alimony obligation in the event of divorce?
Generally speaking, the longer you stay married, even though you’re living apart, the longer the duration of the marriage could be extended for alimony purposes. This means you could potentially be obligated to pay alimony to your spouse for a longer period of time.
Consider this option
If, however, you do want a divorce but you need or want to remain on your spouse’s health insurance coverage for a period of time, you might ask your spouse to agree to what’s called a “limited divorce” or “divorce from bed and board” instead of the conventional “absolute” divorce.
The “divorce from bed and board” is the closest that New Jersey has to a legal separation. It may permit you to remain on your spouse’s health insurance plan even though you and your spouse have resolved all issues as to child custody, parenting time, child support, college costs for children, alimony, and division of marital assets and debts in a binding divorce agreement. This is because a bed and board divorce does not dissolve the “bonds of matrimony” and neither of you can remarry as long as the bed and board divorce is in effect.
Therefore, a bed and board divorce is generally agreed to for a finite period of time. For instance, if you need more time to obtain health insurance benefits or qualify for health insurance with your current employment.
On the other hand, if you are the spouse with the health insurance plan, you might consider agreeing to a bed and board divorce while negotiating in exchange for a financial benefit in your divorce agreement.
Like this post? Please share or, for more information about how to settle your divorce out of court or for a personalized consultation, give me a call at (973) 292-9090 or shoot me an email at mhart@michelehartlaw.com
