Separate But Married: ‘Separate Maintenance’ in Michigan

Now that the fiction of a ‘civil union’ has been mostly done away with and homosexuals can use the same laws the rest of the country does, most people consider just three conditions for a couple: you can be unmarried, you can be married, or you can be divorced. But in most states, including Michigan, there’s a rarely-discussed fourth option: legal separation, referred in in our state as “Separate Maintenance.”

Entering Separate Maintenance
The process of becoming separately maintained is virtually identical to the process of getting divorced. Marital assets are divided, custody arrangements are agreed-upon, spousal and child support payments are set up, and so on. The only difference comes at the moment the final paperwork is signed, and the difference is that the paperwork declares you “in Separate Maintenance” rather than declaring you divorced.  Life after Separate Maintenance is essentially identical to divorced life, with the exception that you remain legally married to your spouse.

This means that you retain a wide variety of rights and social privileges that follow marriage. For example:

• You can keep your spouse on your work-based health insurance plan,
• You can visit your spouse in the hospital if they become injured,
• You can file taxes jointly with your spouse,
• Your spouse will not be deported if they are in the country without a valid visa, and
• Your religious leaders, if they are strictly against divorce, can rest assured that you are still married.

Of course, you cannot remarry if you are still married, which is a big part of why this is such a rare situation for a couple to remain in.

When Separate Maintenance Becomes Divorce
If you and your spouse have been legally separated and you decide to convert your legal separation into a divorce, you may be in for a shock: it’s not easy. In fact, the process for divorcing a spouse you are already separated from is exactly like the process for divorcing a spouse you are married to.

That’s right — it takes a complete divorce process to become legally separated, and then another complete divorce process to become divorced once you are legally separated.

When Separate Maintenance Becomes Marriage Once Again
On the other hand, couples that are in Separate Maintenance can decide to “re”marry each other at any time. All they have to do is alert the court that they have decided to ‘rejoin maintenance’ and that they are living under the same roof again. There is almost no effort to recombining the lives of a separately maintained couple — which is one last excellent reason that some couples choose this status over a full divorce: it allows you to live alone, get a ‘taste’ of post-married life, and see if you really do want to get away, without making it difficult (at least legally) to get back together with your spouse.

If you think a Separate Maintenance situation might be right for you and your spouse, call Gucciardo Family Law today — we can talk through your options with you and help you find the one that’s the best for you.