One of the murkier divorce situations to define is a separation. The question
about when the actual separation occurred has been the sticking point
of many contentious court debates. Luckily, a recent California Supreme
Court decision has clearly defined a separation as the time when different
residences are established. This is known at a bright-line rule, a clearly
defined rule or standard, composed of objective factors, which leaves
little or no room for varying interpretation.
“A bright-line rule ... promotes fairness by providing a measure
of predictability to the parties and their attorney, as well as clear
guidance to judges,” Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye wrote in
her decision. “It reduces the potential for manipulation of a more
elastic standard by the higher earner in situations of significant income
disparity.”
The impetus for Justice Cantil-Sakauye’s ruling was a case involving
a former Northern California couple who went to court in a dispute over
financial support after their marriage fell apart. Sheryl Davis claimed
she and her husband, Xavier Davis, formally separated in 2006, when she
declared the marriage over and they began living mostly separate lives,
but under the same roof.
Originally, the Superior Court and the First District Court of Appeal
in San Francisco agreed with Sheryl Davis, but Justice Cantil-Sakauye’s
ruling overturned them and made a constant threshold for California divorce cases.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle. “The ruling makes Xavier
Davis eligible to receive a share of his wife’s income for the previous
five years, a period in which she made more money than he did. Under the
state’s community-property law, spouses must share their income
and their jointly acquired property until they separate.”
For more:
State Supreme Court defines legal separation in divorce cases (SFGate.com)
Photo:
@hang_in_there