The short answer is yes, with one little exception I'll get to later. There are a variety of reasons people choose to file for legal separation instead of divorce - religious reasons, financial reasons, or perhaps you just have not resided in California long enough to qualify to file for divorce...

Many people believe that in order to obtain a divorce in California, they must be “legally separated” first.  This is not true.  Legal Separation and Divorce do not necessarily go hand in hand, although the process for obtaining each one is nearly identical.  You do not need to obtain a...