A divorce can be a long and stressful process made even more challenging if you’re not familiar with the details of Ohio’s divorce laws. You may even find that a simple divorce doesn’t meet your needs. Perhaps you can benefit from other types of legal separations available in Ohio? You should familiarize yourself with the various options and laws in the Buckeye State.

LawInfo’s Ohio Divorce Law articles can help relieve some of the stress of the process. You’ll learn about the state’s divorce prerequisites, how property is divided and many other divorce topics. Whether you need assistance in Cincinnati, Cleveland or Columbus, LawInfo can help connect you with an Ohio divorce attorney.

Separation vs. Annulment in Ohio

A divorce or dissolution of a marriage are not the only ways a couple can legally separate in Ohio. Depending on the circumstances of the relationship, you and your partner may find staying legally married advantageous despite having grown apart and disconnected from one another. Or maybe your marriage should never have happened in the first place due to legal conflicts.

If you want to live apart from your spouse but remain legally married for religious, parenting or financial reasons, a legal separation may be the solution for you. A court will decide upon spousal support, parental responsibilities and rights and the division of marital property. A legal separation is often used by couples to attempt to mend their marriage before they commit to a divorce or dissolution.

You can attain an annulment if you want your marriage dissolved and treated as if it never occurred in the first place. Ohio law sets specific requirements to obtain an annulment in which one party must prove that the marriage was invalid. This usually means that the marriage proceeded against Ohio’s legal marriage requirements. The annulment may be granted if:

• Both parties never consummated the marriage.
• One party committed bigamy at the time of the current marriage’s ceremony.
• One party was forced to consent to the marriage.
• One party was fraudulently convinced to consent to the marriage.
• Either or both parties were under Ohio’s legal marriage age or didn’t receive consent from an approved person or entity.
• One party was mentally incompetent at the time of the marriage ceremony.

Ohio Spousal Support

An Ohio court may order one spouse to pay spousal support (also known as alimony) to the other during and/or after the divorce process. Spousal support is intended to help the spouse who is the most financially impacted from the marriage, especially one who depended on the other spouse for income or child support due to a disability or lack of employment.

A spousal support order may be temporary or permanent—lasting as long as the divorce proceedings only or until the beneficiary’s death. The court calculates the amount and extent of spousal support by considering many different factors, including:

• Each party’s incoming earning abilities.
• How long the marriage lasted.
• Each party’s standard of living during the marriage.
• Each party’s age and health conditions.
• The assets each party possesses, including any court-ordered property distribution and payments.