If you and your spouse are considering separation, it’s important to know that you’re not legally required to apply for a Divorce Order. You can separate, and live your lives independently. However, if you intend to remarry then getting a divorce is a legal requirement. You can’t legally remarry if you haven’t finalised your divorce proceedings. This is considered bigamy, or polygamy, which is a crime in Victoria. So while you don’t strictly need a divorce just to separate, if you’re considering a definitive separation, then you may need to consider filing for divorce. Getting a divorce also affects your financial interests. Once you are divorced, if you and your former spouse have not yet legally resolved your property and spousal maintenance matters, you each only have 12 months in which to apply for property or spousal maintenance orders without first needing to get special permission from the Court. We can guide you through this process. Get in touch to speak with one of our Camberwell family lawyers about what this process looks like.