Separation Question

Hello,

I've been living in Illinois for 6 months, but am a Texas resident (I'm in the military).

My wife and I have been married 7 years and have 2 3-year old daughters (twins) and 1 9-year old step-daughter (hers from a previous marriage).

In October my wife told me she wasn't "in love" with me (she has become close to another male) moved to an apartment on 28 Nov 00. I've kept the kids until this week because of moving and child care arrangements, but soon she will have them most of the time. I'm afraid our relationship will continue to deteriorate.

I understand that Illinois requires 3 months physical residency to file for divorce, and 2 years physical separation (which can be reduced to 6 months separation if both parties agree).

Question: For divorce, what is required to show physical separation has occurred... do we need to file a Legal Separation to start the "timer", or will we just have to affirm that we have been physically separated for X months during the process?

Question: Is filing in Illinois the way to go, or are there options for Texas since we are both officially out-of-state Texas residents? If so, is Texas preferable from my standpoint?

Thanks very much in advance for any advice you can offer.

Survivin

[Edited by Survivin on 12-20-2000 at 07:30 AM]

From the looks of it, youwill need to reside inthe county that you are petitioning for divorce in for 3mos. Also must be a resident of the state for 6mos.
Same would apply for TX so you will need to wait until you have been in IN for the 6mos before petitioning the court for the divorce. Same would apply for the seperation.

This website has some very insightful information:

http://www.divorcesource.com/info/divorcelaws/indiana.shtml

Thanks very much for the response, I appreciate it.

BTW, I'm residing in Illinois, not Indiana. The info link is http://www.divorcesource.com/info/divorcelaws/illinois.shtml


My question refers to the phrase "Legal grounds for dissolution of marriage... [includes] ... the spouses have been living separate and apart without cohabitation for 2 years". Do we have to obtain a Legal Separation to prove we have been living separate, or will we just affirm this fact during the divorce process (via an affidavit or something)?

Survivin said:

Thanks very much for the response, I appreciate it.

BTW, I'm residing in Illinois, not Indiana. The info link is http://www.divorcesource.com/info/divorcelaws/illinois.shtml


My question refers to the phrase "Legal grounds for dissolution of marriage... [includes] ... the spouses have been living separate and apart without cohabitation for 2 years". Do we have to obtain a Legal Separation to prove we have been living separate, or will we just affirm this fact during the divorce process (via an affidavit or something)?

Click to expand...

Oops, sorry about that.. if you will read down the page on that link there is a section that states :


LEGAL GROUNDS FOR DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE: No-Fault: Irreconcilable differences has caused the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage and reconciliation has failed or further attempts at reconciliation are impractical and the spouses have been living separate and apart without cohabitation for 2 years.
(If both spouses consent, the time period becomes 6 months)
**Note this part of the paragraph..... [750 Illinois Compiled Statutes; Chapter 5, Section 401].


Which means that if it is agreeable then the divorce can be filed for in the 6months time slot, instead of waiting the two years. Also, it would just require a signed affidavit by both parties in most circumstances.