separation (redirected from legal separation)

separation, in law, either the voluntary agreement of husband and wife to live apart or a partial dissolution of the marriage relation by court order. The marriage bond remains, and remarriage of either party is criminal. The separated parties will ordinarily be bound by the provisions of an agreement respecting the amount to be paid for separate maintenance and the adjustment of their property rights. Separation by court decree is a divorce a mensa et thora [from bed and board]; the parties are forbidden to live together, and the wife may have a right to alimony. The laws of the states of the United States vary greatly as to separation; generally, jurisdictions where divorce is difficult to obtain have a more lenient policy toward legal separation than do jurisdictions with easier divorce laws. The main grounds for legal separation are adultery, cruelty, and desertion.

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separation

Family law the cessation of cohabitation between a man and wife, either by mutual agreement or under a decree of a court

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separation [‚sep·ə′rā·shən]

(aerospace engineering)

The action of a fallaway section or companion body as it casts off from the remaining body of a vehicle, or the action of the remaining body as it leaves a fallaway section behind it.

(chemical engineering)

The separation of liquids or gases in a mixture, as by distillation or extraction.

(engineering)

The action segregating phases, such as gas-liquid, gas-solid, liquid-solid.

The segregation of solid particles by size range, as in screening.

(engineering acoustics)

The degree, expressed in decibels, to which left and right stereo channels are isolated from each other.

(geology)

The apparent relative displacement on a fault, measured in any given direction.

(mining engineering)

The removal of gangue from raw ores, as in frothing.