No. The law provides that residents of California, as well as residents of other states, can hold property titled in many different forms. The law also allows spouses to transfer property between themselves, so long as they follow certain well defined procedures and methods. Holding property titled in one way, as opposed to another, has certain advantages when it comes to asset protection. Agreements to help protect your assets from creditor claims are just taking advantage of the legal rights available to individuals to hold title to property as they chose.

The term legal separation is misleading. In California, married couples are deemed separated when they are no longer planning on remaining a married couple, and at least one party has communicated this intention to the other party. It does not necessarily mean the parties are no longer living together, as many times couples remain in the same house for financial or other reasons. However, moving out is very good evidence of an abandonment of the marital relationship if the date of separation becomes a contested issue in court. Couples who are no longer living together, but still acting like a couple, or seeing a counselor are not considered separated because they have not abandoned the married relationship. One reason the term “legal separation” is misleading is because married people can go to court to get a judgment of legal separation, which is different than being “legally separated”. A judgment of legal separation can provide for all the relief a judgment of dissolution provides, except for changing the parties status from married to single. Because people’s actions and statements regarding their intentions regarding their marriage can be ambiguous, it is best to consult a family law specialist to evaluate your circumstances if you need to know if you are legally separated or not. Legal separation has important financial consequences in a dissolution case.

If the parties are in agreement, a judgement can be submitted to the court as quickly as the papers can be prepared. For most attorney’s or parties, this means at least a few days. How long it takes for the clerk to process the papers depends upon the county. For most counties in these budget crisis times with courts closed during some days each month, this can be up to six weeks or more. Under California law, the court cannot change the status of the parties until six months after service or acceptance of service of the summons. When the paperwork is done immediately, the judgment will have a future date in it when the parties status is changed from married to single. No hearing is required, and the parties will simply be single after the date stated in the judgment passes.

From a legal standpoint, parties can date after separation, or even before separation for that matter, and it will not affect your family law case in most instances. If there are children involved, getting new parties involved in the children’s lives is not a good idea. Do not introduce new parties to the children as it will only cause problems in most instances and it can impact the custody and parenting orders. From a practical standpoint, nothing sets off a soon to be ex spouse more than a new party dating their soon to be former spouse. It can heighten emotions and make settlement more difficult.