Walk It Through: The Split
6 months and 30 days, then 120 days' wait, joint custody presumed, and an equal division.
A pharmacist, married for years with one child, decides the marriage is over and asks what it takes to file.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One marriage and one house. Legal separation, maintenance in detail, and child support are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- MaintenanceSupport the court may order to either spouse for a limited or indefinite time.
- Property divisionThe court presumes all property is divided equally between the spouses, and may alter that, without regard to marital misconduct, after considering the factors the section lists.
- Substantial faultA ground for unemployment ineligibility alongside misconduct: a discharge for either keeps a person ineligible until 7 weeks have passed and they have earned 14 times the weekly benefit rate.
- Joint legal custodyCustody both parents hold, which the court presumes is in the child's best interest.