New Jersey doesn't have a legal provision that allows for married couples to legally separate, unlike other states. However, couples who don't want to divorce but do want to separate can choose to create a separation agreement. This agreement is a contract between the spouses that outlines the terms of their separation through the contractual provisions. This type of document is recognized as a legal contract and is binding. While it is not classified as a legal separation in New Jersey, it functions in similar ways.
Couples typically include terms about the following issues in their separation agreements:
- How they will divide their property, assets, and debts
- Whether one spouse will pay spousal support to the other and how much it will be
- How legal and physical child custody will be handled by the parents
- Visitation of the children with each parent
- The payment of child support by one spouse to the other