Separation - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition separation

Definition :

Separation. If a husband and wife cannot agree so as to carry out the purpose of their union, they may resolve to live apart. A deed of separation, containing the terms and conditions upon which an actual and immediate separation is to be arranged, will be valid, so far as relates to the trusts and covenants of the husband; but if it contemplate a contingent or future separation it is void, a opposed to the policy of marriage, and the well-being of the community.

The concurrence of trustees is not essential, and a deed of separation will be binding on the wife as well as the husband, though entered into without the intervention of a trustee, McGregor v. McGregor, (1888) 21 QBD 424; Sweet v. Sweet, (1895) 1 QB 12.

The Court will decree specific performance of an agreement to execute a deed of immediate separation if based upon sufficient consideration, Gibbs v. Harding, (1870) LR 5 Ch 336.

If after the separation, the husband and wife be reconciled, and live together again, that circumstance will put an end to the agreement, and determine the separate allowance.

An arrangement whereby a husband and wife live apart from each other while remaining married, either by mutual consent or by judicial decree, Black's Law Dictionary, 7th Edn.

See, further, HUSBAND AND WIFE, and JUDICIAL SEPARATION.