Also known as: decrees of legal separation · legal separation decree · judicial separation order
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A judicial order that alters the preexisting marital status between spouses without terminating the marriage. The decree reallocates property rights, living arrangements, and support obligations while leaving the legal bond intact. Either spouse may later move to convert the decree into a dissolution after the statutory waiting period.
Deborah Dunn obtained a decree of legal separation from Dominic Drake. More than six months later Deborah filed a motion asking the court to convert the decree into a dissolution. The court granted the motion and entered a decree of dissolution because the statutory time requirement had been satisfied.
Doris Duffy received a decree of legal separation from Demetrius Douglas. After the decree Doris purchased new equipment for her business using post-separation earnings. In the later dissolution proceeding the court classified the equipment as non-marital property because it had been acquired after entry of the legal-separation decree.
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No. The decree must alter the marital status that previously existed between both parties in the manner decreed. Language awarding separation to one spouse only violates the statutory requirement that the decree affect the shared status of the marriage as a unit.
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Either spouse may move for conversion no earlier than six months after entry of the separation decree. Once the motion is filed the court must convert the decree to a dissolution of marriage.
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No. The marital-status portion of the decree becomes final when entered, subject only to appeal of that specific provision. An appeal that challenges only property division does not delay finality of the dissolution finding, so either party may remarry while the property appeal remains pending.
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…or in exchange for property acquired by gift, bequest, devise, or descent; “(c) Property acquired by a spouse after a decree of legal separation; and “(d) Property excluded by valid agreement of the parties.” Section 14-10-113(2), C.R.S. 1973. The parties to this proceeding were married on August 5, 1968, in Denver, Colorado.…