Registering as legally seperated

[CornflakeGin]

I separated from my husband in Feb this yr and moved out of our house in March. So far this is an amicable split & no pressure on divorce. My ex has mentioned something about registering as legally separated. What is this and do I need to do it. Tbh I've had my head in the sand and now it's time to get it out and go forward.

I've no idea what he means and I'm divorced. Perhaps he means contacting anyone official to have it on record? Like your bank, hmrc for tax credits, etc.
Not sure how you'd legally register it. Hopefully someone knowledgeable will come along.

I don't think there is such a thing as legal separation in this countrt. You can make a financial agreement which will be verified by a court (no need to attend) should you wish to divorce in two years.

Other than that you can also contact experian and fill in a form to say you are financially separate? Forgotten the term but I did it to protect myself when my ex was threatening bankruptcy the liar

Thanks to you both for replying. Apart from the odd bill with my name on it and excluding the mortgage we are separate on the financial side. So far the split is amicable which I'm very grateful for.

You can apply for a legal judicial separation using the same process / form as a divorce. D8 on gov website. If you split finances before a divorce / judicial separation, it only means you have to do them again when you actually divorce - although if the agreement is legally binding it will be taken into account the second time round.

Are you in the UK?

You can get legally separated in England, and Wales as described: www.gov.uk/legal-separation

Scotland is a slightly different process.

OP - Also check the Money Advice Service and similar website, for additional pro/con information.

I stand corrected. I'm sure I was told it wasn't a thing when I was going through it all

I got legally separated as STBexH and I still living together. I needed to do so as 'proof' for my Uni essay extension etc. You can set out agreements in it that are legally binding but ours was just to prove we'd split. We haven't completely agreed on finances going forward so not sure what the next step would be but we want to do it amicably.

You can get a legal judicial separation but that tends to be used only when couples have no intentions over ever divorcing (usually due to religion etc). It’s very rarely used in practice. If you are likely to divorce at some stage there’s no point. It costs the same as a divorce and you’ll just have to go through the process and cost again when you do divorce. If you get divorced on 2 years separation for example you both sign to confirm you have been apart that long. That’s all the proof you need.

If you’ve sorted your finances out you can have a separation agreement even though you are not divorcing yet.