Yes, there other legal means of ending a marriage aside from divorce. These include legal separation, annulment, and summary dissolution.
- Legal Separation: A legal separation does not technically end a marriage, but it does allow two spouses to live separately and includes court orders for child support, child custody, and spousal support.
- Annulment: An annulment can terminate a marriage that was not legal in the first place. This includes incest, bigamy, someone under the age of 18, or a marriage that was entered into due to force or fraud.
- Summary Dissolution: A summary dissolution is an option for those married less than 5 years that have no children together and very little assets and debt.
An experienced divorce attorney will be able to help you determine if any of these divorce alternatives are right for your situation.
