What if we separate but continue to live in the same house?

Although commonly you would expect that upon separation, parties will take steps to live in separate residences, sometimes that is not always the case due to many different factors – the main reasons being both parties want to still be involved in the ongoing care of children of the marriage and sometimes, parties cannot afford to maintain two houses rather than one pending the resolution of their financial affairs.

So parties can separate and continue to live under the same roof. If that is the case, and you still wish to get divorced, there are some extra steps you will have to satisfy before a divorce order will be granted – namely, you will have to provide sworn evidence to the court about the circumstances of the separation to prove that the marriage is in fact over. This will require you and a third party to file a short affidavit outlining, among other things, the following matters:

• When you advised family and friends of the separation and what you have generally held out to others about the status of your relationship;
• The extent to which you continue to live a shared life i.e. whether or not you continue to undertake tasks for each other such as cooking and cleaning;
• Whether or not you continued to share a bedroom.