Physical Custody

Physical custody is the actual hands-on care of your children, i.e. who the children will live with primarily. If the children spend most of their time with you, you have sole physical custody. If you and your spouse take split the children between the two of you, this is called split custody, but is generally thought to be damaging to your children.

Legal Separation

A legal separation is a finding by a court that the conditions or circumstances of a marriage make it intolerable for the parties to live together but that the marriage itself should be maintained. In general, couples who legally separate can either agree to separate voluntarily and draw up a formal agreement or one or both spouses can petition the court for a legal separation. Generally, legal separations may be granted up to one to two years, depending on the state. At any time during the legal separation, either party can ask for a divorce.

Uncontested Divorce

An uncontested divorce is a proceeding in which a person sued for divorce does not fight it and instead reaches an agreement with the spouse during the proceedings. In these cases, the terms of the divorce are agreed upon by both parties. Uncontested divorces are generally much more amicable and economical than other types of divorce.