sirglyn Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 1ve been asked to help translate a letter from a Canadian man who is having problems with his Japanese wife.Can somebody tell me what it means to be legally separated as opposed to simply living apart from one`s spouse prior to divorce.We are living in Japan and there`s no concept of legal separation here.The bloke seems to be worried that his legally separated wife may run up debts in his name.Any help/opinions you can give would be gratefully appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyofborg Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 you really need to ask a proper lawyer familiar with the various legal jurisdictions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_Sleeps Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 I can't answer the legal seperation part, but I can clarify the debt part - and only then in a UK context. Marriage does not make someone liable for a debt, so if a wife/ex-wife is building up debt in someone's name, without their permission, it would be fraudulent and thus could be disputed. If someone already has an ongoing credit arrangement, the main example being a joint credit card with a wife, and the marriage is at an end, inform the credit card company that you want to terminate the ongoing credit agreement and husband may only be jointly-liable for the debt up to the date at which he terminated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medusa Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 The legal separation part is basically when it was registered by some sort of legal deed which is signed by both parties and witnessed that you both agree that you are no longer living as a couple. I don't believe that there is anything that goes through a court or legally binding with a legal separation- it just means that there's no quibble later on if the couple go for a divorce based on 2 years of separation. If a couple are legally separated then one would expect them to be also living financially separate lives as well as being physically separated, so it should theoretically not be possible for one party to run up a debt in the other's name, as joint accounts and credit cards with both parties having a card on the same account should be closed as part of the separation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey Shaw Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Formal legal separation is called 'judicial separation'. See HM Government's official advice website: https://www.gov.uk/legal-separation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now