The Unintended Consequences of Long-Term Separations

written by Jim Duzak |

In a previous column, I wrote about legal separations, in which there is a court-ordered framework of rights and responsibilities covering everything from property division and debt allocation to spousal support, child support, and parenting time. Although legal separations are often a prelude to divorce, I pointed out that they can be a useful long-term solution in cases in which a person’s religion might forbid divorce, or where someone might be unable to obtain health insurance other than as a spouse on an existing plan.

But for every legal separation in effect at any given moment, there are probably nine or ten informal separations. Although most of these are short-term, “trial” separations that usually lead either to reconciliation or divorce, there are a surprisingly large number of couples who remain separated on a more-or-less permanent basis without court involvement. Most of these people have no realistic desire to ever get back together—I know people who haven’t even seen their spouse for over twenty years—but they either don’t want to bother with the expenses and the uncertainties of the legal process, or they like having a convenient excuse for not getting married again. (“Gee, I’d love to get married, honey, but my wife would wipe me out financially if I filed for divorce…”).

The problem with long-term, “de facto” separations is that, even if the spouses no longer think of themselves as married for purposes of dating, sex, or cohabitation, they’re still married in the eyes of the law. And being married in the eyes of the law can mean unintended consequences.

For example, if your long-lost spouse is driving a car that is still registered in your name or both of your names (it happens fairly often), you can get dragged into a lawsuit resulting from any accident he may cause. Or if he defaults on a loan for which you were a co-signer, or a joint credit card you forgot about, your good credit could be in jeopardy.

And if you were to die while still legally married, your spouse would normally be entitled to a mandatory share of your estate—possibly the entire estate, if you have no kids—even if you have a will leaving everything to other people.

I had a case some years ago that illustrates this point all too well. I represented “Greg”, who was legally married to “Roberta” when she died tragically in an apartment house fire. At the time of her death, Greg and Roberta had not had contact with each other in years; in fact, both of them were living with other people. There were no kids, and Roberta had never written a will. Because of his legal status as husband, Greg was appointed administrator of Roberta’s estate, and we pursued a legal claim against Roberta’s landlord for wrongful death. There was clear liability on the part of the landlord—he had botched up a do-it-yourself electrical job for which he wasn’t even ...

Click here to read the rest of the article from Boomer-Living.com