A legal separation in Indiana is a court-ordered arrangement that lets married couples live apart with formal rules for property, support, and custody while remaining legally married. A judge can grant a separation decree lasting up to one year when both spouses show that living together has become intolerable but the marriage should be maintained.1Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-15-3-9 – Decree Term Findings Couples typically use it to preserve health insurance, honor religious beliefs, or buy time before deciding whether to divorce.
Who Qualifies
Two findings are required. The circumstances of the marriage must make it intolerable for both spouses to live together, and the marriage itself must be one that should be maintained.2Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-15-3-3 – Findings Required for Decree That second requirement is what sets separation apart from divorce, which only asks whether the marriage is irretrievably broken.
Only legally married couples can petition. Unmarried partners do not qualify no matter how long they have been together. And there is a hard limit: a court cannot grant a separation decree if either spouse has filed a petition or counter-petition for divorce.1Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-15-3-9 – Decree Term Findings If your spouse responds to your separation petition by filing for dissolution, the separation proceeding stops. The two cannot run at the same time.
Residency Requirements
At least one spouse must have lived in Indiana for at least six months before filing. Military personnel stationed at a U.S. military installation within Indiana also satisfy this requirement.3Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-15-2-6 – Residence Filing in County File in the county where either spouse resides. If neither spouse meets the six-month threshold, the court dismisses the case and you wait until you qualify.
If a spouse moves out of Indiana after the petition is filed, the court keeps jurisdiction as long as residency was met at the time of filing.
How to File
The process begins when one spouse files a verified petition in the county court. The petition must be titled “In Re the legal separation of _____ and _____” and must include both spouses’ names and addresses, the date of marriage, and a statement that living together has become intolerable but the marriage should be maintained.2Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-15-3-3 – Findings Required for Decree When children are involved, the petition should also request temporary custody and support.
The base civil filing fee in Indiana is $157. Counties with an approved Judicial Conference plan add a $20 surcharge for separation and dissolution petitions, so total costs at filing usually run around $177 to $185 once service of process is included.4IN.gov. 2025 Court Costs and Fees by Case Type Fee waivers may be available if you cannot afford the cost.
After filing, formally serve your spouse with the petition and a summons. Service can be made by certified mail, the county sheriff, or a private process server. Once served, your spouse can agree to the terms, propose changes, or file a counter-petition for divorce that would halt the separation. If no response is filed, the court can enter a default judgment.
Temporary Orders During the Separation
Once the petition is on file, either spouse can ask the court for provisional orders covering the separation period. Indiana law allows motions for temporary maintenance, temporary child support or custody, possession of property, and counseling.5Justia. Indiana Code Title 31, Article 15, Chapter 4 – Provisional Orders in Dissolution and Legal Separation
Either spouse can also request a temporary restraining order preventing the other from transferring, hiding, or disposing of property outside the normal course of daily expenses.5Justia. Indiana Code Title 31, Article 15, Chapter 4 – Provisional Orders in Dissolution and Legal Separation That protection matters when one spouse worries the other will drain accounts or sell off assets. All provisional orders last only as long as the decree, with a one-year ceiling.1Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-15-3-9 – Decree Term Findings
Property, Retirement, and Debt
Indiana starts from a presumption that marital property should be divided equally, and a 50/50 split is treated as fair unless evidence shows otherwise.6Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-15-7-5 – Presumption for Equal Division of Marital Property Rebuttal Factors that can rebut the presumption include each spouse’s contributions (paid work, homemaking, caregiving), how the property was acquired, each spouse’s economic circumstances, dissipation of assets, and future earning ability.
Within a legal separation, though, any property orders are provisional. They last only for the separation period. If the couple later divorces, a final property division happens then. Marital property includes income, real estate, retirement accounts, and anything else acquired during the marriage regardless of whose name is on title. Separate property such as an inheritance generally stays with the original owner unless it has been mixed into joint accounts or used for shared expenses.
Retirement accounts have their own procedure. Dividing a 401(k), pension, or similar plan requires a Qualified Domestic Relations Order. A QDRO does not require a divorce; it can be issued as part of any domestic relations proceeding, including a legal separation, as long as it is issued under state domestic relations law and identifies the plan, the participant, the alternate payee, the amount or percentage to be paid, and the time period involved.7U.S. Department of Labor. QDROs Chapter 1 – Qualified Domestic Relations Orders An Overview Plan administrators reject QDROs that don’t meet precise formatting rules, so most couples use an attorney or QDRO specialist for this step.
Debt can be allocated by the decree the same way it is in divorce. A court can assign specific obligations to each spouse. New debts taken on after the decree generally belong to the spouse who incurred them. The catch is that a court order does not bind creditors. If both names are on a credit card or mortgage, the lender can still pursue either spouse for the full balance no matter what the decree says. The remedy is a contempt motion against the responsible spouse, which does not undo credit damage in the meantime. Refinancing joint debts into individual accounts during the separation avoids the problem.
Support Orders
Spousal Maintenance
Indiana does not routinely award spousal maintenance. Courts can order it only in specific situations. Temporary maintenance may be granted if one spouse has a physical or mental incapacity that materially affects the ability to be self-supporting.8Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-15-7-2 – Findings Concerning Maintenance Rehabilitative maintenance is available for a spouse who needs time and resources to gain education or training to re-enter the workforce, and for a spouse caring for a child whose condition requires the parent to forgo employment. Outside these circumstances, the court will not order maintenance simply because one spouse earns less.
Child Support
Child support during a legal separation follows the Indiana Child Support Guidelines, which calculate support from both parents’ combined income, childcare costs, health insurance premiums, and the parenting time schedule.9Indiana Courts. Indiana Child Support Guidelines The more overnights a parent has, the lower their support obligation tends to be. Courts can order wage garnishment to enforce payment. Support ends when the decree ends unless a divorce filing replaces it.
Health Insurance and Social Security
Keeping health insurance is one of the most common reasons couples pick separation over divorce. Because you remain married, a dependent spouse can generally stay on the other spouse’s employer-sponsored plan for the duration of the decree. Divorce, by contrast, immediately disqualifies a former spouse from coverage as a dependent under most employer plans.
If separation does cause a spouse to lose coverage, that loss counts as a qualifying event under federal COBRA rules. The affected spouse can elect continuation coverage for up to 36 months, though premiums are substantially higher without the employer subsidy. Notify the plan administrator within 60 days of the legal separation to preserve this right.10U.S. Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration. FAQs on COBRA Continuation Health Coverage for Workers
Social Security is another factor. A divorced spouse can claim benefits on an ex-spouse’s record only if the marriage lasted at least 10 years.11Social Security Administration. What Are the Marriage Requirements to Receive Social Security Spouses Benefits Couples approaching the 10-year mark sometimes use legal separation to keep the marriage intact on paper while living independently, so the lower-earning spouse qualifies for spousal benefits later.
When the Year Ends
A separation decree lasts a maximum of one year.1Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-15-3-9 – Decree Term Findings When the year is up, the decree and every order tied to it expire automatically. Three paths lead out.
- Reconciliation. If the couple reunites before the decree expires, either spouse can file a joint motion to dismiss. Provisional orders end, and the marriage continues without lingering obligations.
- Conversion to divorce. Either spouse can petition to dissolve the marriage. Indiana law requires a 60-day gap between filing a legal separation petition and filing for divorce, so the two proceedings do not overlap.
- Letting the decree expire. If neither spouse reconciles nor files for divorce, every order on support, custody, and property becomes unenforceable when the year runs out. The couple remains married but with no court framework.
Letting a decree lapse is where people get hurt. Without active orders, the custody and financial arrangements you relied on for a year vanish overnight. If reconciliation looks unlikely, filing for divorce before the separation expires avoids a gap in support and custody protections.