In certain circumstances, and if no agreement can be reached, a party may apply to the District Court for a separation order accompanied by support orders (for example.B either party may be instructed by the court to provide financial support for the cost of living to the other party and/or the children. In the case of a woman, she may apply if the husband has been convicted of assaulting or abandoning her, or if he is guilty of persistent cruelty to her or her young children, or if he knowingly transmitted an STD to her or forced her into prostitution, or if he is a drunkard or habitual drug addict. In the case of a husband, he may apply if the wife is guilty of persistent cruelty to her children or is a drunkard or habitual drug addict. The existence of a separation judgment on the matrimonial bond does not prevent either party from filing for divorce later. In practice, family mediation is a problem-solving process designed to help couples separate or divorce in order to make their own mutually acceptable agreements on ongoing arrangements for their children and/or resolving financial matters. Given the above reasons, it is advisable to make an agreement with your spouse that you have actually separated. While we understand that this is not an easy task, it will later prevent any litigation in which a party does not agree to the commencement of separation, which, by consent or not, may cause the main divorce action to fail. Once a separation agreement has been signed, the employee usually waives his or her rights of action against the employer. Therefore, it is important that workers first seek independent legal advice on their rights and claims.

The layman may think that “separation” is simply not physically together (which is the rudimentary definition in the dictionary), but Hong Kong`s marriage law defines “separation” in a divorce scenario as a couple who have stopped living together in the conjugal sense; as a man and as a woman. This may include, but is not limited to, factors such as not sharing a bedroom, not having sex, sharing meal times, not spending time with family, not doing daily tasks, and caring for each other as a man and woman. In Hong Kong, where housing is scarce and extremely expensive, it is not uncommon for couples who are effectively separated and who have actually informed themselves and/or third parties of their separation to continue to live under one roof and manage two separate households, whether for the benefit of the children, for cultural or financial reasons. As a general rule, an employee should expect to see the following conditions in a standard separation agreement: – It depends a lot on the complexity and dimensions of the problems that the parties have to solve. The degree of mutual cooperation and willingness to participate in family mediation sessions are also important. If the issues are less complicated and the process goes smoothly, it may only take 2 or 3 mediation sessions, each lasting about 2 hours, for the parties to reach an agreement. It is increasingly common for Hong Kong employers and employees to agree on the terms of dismissal. In such cases, an employee may be asked to enter into a separation agreement (also known as a settlement agreement). To initiate matrimonial proceedings, a petition for divorce is issued that contains the reasons why you are filing for divorce. The petition states that the marriage is irretrievably broken – including the list of details that led to the breakdown of the marriage – and the application for dissolution of the marriage, also listing other issues related to custody/access to children and separation of matrimonial property. There are no legal provisions that regulate what should and should not be included in a separation agreement. The parties are generally free to agree on the conditions of termination, as long as these conditions do not claim to conclude a contract from the legal rights of the parties.

It is therefore advisable to think twice to find out if you have really separated from your spouse if you are considering divorcing due to a separation. However, if the situation does not amount to separation, you do not necessarily have to proceed on an error-prone basis; In the meantime, you can always consider closing the time limit by entering into an act of separation and a family agreement that allows you to agree on financial matters and arrangements for the children, which will then be included in a consent order when the separation period of one or two years is reached. If you and your spouse are struggling to coordinate your children`s care and contact agreement in the separation/divorce process, you can seek help from social workers at specialized co-parenting support centers. Sometimes, when negotiating a separation agreement, the employee will demand from the employer a mutual exemption from claims and compensation, as well as an obligation of confidentiality. What should the employer consider before accepting this request? Separation agreements Often, in the event of dismissal, employers and employees will try to agree on the terms of withdrawal in a separation agreement. Typically, an employee receives increased severance pay and, in return, will release and waive any potential claims they have against the employer. An employer`s right to dismiss an employee is not unlimited and an employee can challenge the legality of the dismissal decision. If an employee is unaware of their rights and obligations or needs help negotiating a separation agreement, they should seek independent legal assistance. Stay tuned for our next and final article in this series where we`ll discuss severance pay due to employee layoffs. You can file for divorce with your spouse, provided that both people already agree and are happy to apply together.

If a prenuptial agreement has already established details in the event of divorce, separation agreements that do not involve litigation are likely to reach a more amicable settlement. However, if you expect disputes arising from the divorce itself or financial and/or child rights issues, it is strongly advised to hire a family law lawyer to more easily handle a difficult situation. There are several possible reasons why a couple would apply for legal separation instead of divorce, for example: the covered areas of law: civil marriages, inheritance claims, custody disputes, divorce and legal separation, domestic violence remedy, financial injunction, financial settlements, parental abduction of children, jurisdictional disputes, pre- and post-marital contracts, expulsion from Hong Kong jurisdiction, separation agreements, adoption by step-parent, guardianship proceedings. It should be recalled that, although separation agreements are a certain type of contract, the general contractual rules continue to apply. That is, there must be an offer, acceptance of that offer and consideration (i.e. something useful). In addition, a separation agreement concluded by a false declaration by one of the parties may be terminated in accordance with the general principles of the contract. .