Legal separation is a legally recognized status in some states in which the spouses’ act of separating or living apart has legal consequences and changes the spouses’ rights and responsibilities. In some states the legal separation process is supervised by the court, which issues court orders for the parties to follow during their legal separation.

And in some states the spouses may enter into a written separation agreement that defines their rights and responsibilities during the separation period. Some states even require spouses to be separated for some period of time (e.g., one year) before they are able to divorce.

But some states—including Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and Texas—do not recognize legal separation, and the spouses are married, with the same rights and responsibilities, until they are divorced.

Laws regarding legal separation vary from state to state and are usually located in a state’s statutes—often in the family or domestic relations code.

In Utah, legal separation is recognized and referred to as 'separate maintenance'—a court-ordered arrangement where a married couple lives apart but remains legally married. Separate maintenance in Utah addresses similar issues to those in a divorce, such as alimony, child custody, child support, and division of property, but does not legally end the marriage. To obtain a decree of separate maintenance in Utah, one spouse must file a petition in the district court. The court then determines the rights and responsibilities of each spouse. Unlike some states, Utah does not require couples to live apart for a specific period before filing for divorce; however, if a couple wishes to divorce after a legal separation, they must file for divorce separately. The statutes governing legal separation in Utah can be found in the Utah Code, particularly in the sections pertaining to family law and domestic relations.