No formal agreement required in Pennsylvania for a separation
Written separation agreement defines ground rules during separation period
For bill paying
- Use of assets or joint credit
- Financial and physical care of children
- Marriage or individual counseling
efforts
- Time together and apart
- Can be made a court order relative
to child custody and support terms
- Does not require filing of divorce
- Can cover what otherwise requires
multiple court proceedings
- Often used when partners are unsure about whether to divorce
Divorce
- Requires filing by one party against
the other (no joint petition)
- Requires the non-filing party receive
the papers in one of several specific
ways
- Papers may or may not request a
division of property or award alimony
and other economic relief
- No fault divorce – by mutual consent
given at least 90 days after the non-filing
party gets the papers
- Fault divorce - by Master’s hearing after initial 90 day waiting period
over and finding by the Master that grounds
for divorce exist
- Can be complicated if your spouse is
currently in active military service
- Ends all money and other rights that
aren’t raised and settled before the
divorce decree is entered
- Collaborative divorce involves a formal agreement between the parties and their attorneys to work together to resolve the case without court action; if court action is required, both attorneys
will end their representation of the parties.
Resources and for a Local Group :
