There is no such thing as a “legal separation”. You are either living together or you are not.

Simply living apart may be better than divorcing, for the reasons we have previously set out. Financially there can also be advantages in not divorcing, especially if one of you dies or in respect of pensions. There are also tax differences to think about.

The difference in separation is that you do not have a court to help you to sort out the issues and move things along.

Some cases need that, usually when one person is not agreeing to give financial details or when the basic issues cannot be resolved.

But an increasing number of couples prefer to sort things out constructively, without running up legal bills. They may ask their solicitors to agree how divorce proceedings should work. This can be done at the outset, perhaps in collaborative law. Or the couple might go to mediation. See approaches for further information.

Some couples talk things through themselves, but we do recommend that each person finds out what the legal position is first. Otherwise it is easy to think that things are sorted when in fact they are either unfair or impractical.

When the financial or other issues have been sorted out, it is possible to have a separation agreement that sets out in writing what has been agreed.

If you want to have some formal recognition that you are living apart, or if you need a court to help sort out finances, and you do not want a divorce then judicial separation is a possibility.