Although a legal separation and divorce have, many things in common there are some advantages to obtaining a legal separation rather than a divorce. I usually count seven main advantages:
1. It allows couples time apart, away from the conflict of the marriage to decide if divorce is what they truly want.
2. It allows for the retention of medical benefits and certain other benefits that divorce would bring to an end.
3. If your religious beliefs conflict with the idea of divorce, you are able to live separately and retain your marital status for religious beliefs.
4. If you are a military spouse, you may wish to remain married for 10 years so that you can take advantage of benefits set up by the Uniformed Services Former Spouse Protection Act.
5. Remaining married for 10 years or more also means being able to take advantage of certain social security benefits for a spouse.
6. If the decision to divorce is made, the legal separation agreement can be converted into a divorce settlement agreement.
7. In the state of New York, legal separation for 12 months can be ground for divorce for couples who do not have any other grounds for divorce.
