Can we remain separated indefinitely or do we eventually have to divorce in MA?

Additional Information:

I left my husband a couple of years ago and moved out of state (I’m in IL now but we were married in MA). When I moved, we just wanted time apart. It wasn’t a legal separation, just a verbal. We haven’t talked in a long time and I’m not on his health care or anything or vice versa, but I wondered if leaving the marriage constituted abandonment or something like that.

ATTORNEY ANSWER:

MA is a “no fault” divorce state, so the grounds for divorce are “irretrievable breakdown”.  If your husband still resides in MA and you last lived together in MA, MA would have jurisdiction.  If you both live out of state and are no longer MA residents, then MA does not have jurisdiction. In MA, you can remain separated indefinitely.

With law offices in Framingham, MA and Milford, MA our Divorce Attorneys provide legal services throughout the Boston metro west and Worcester county region including Ashland, Dedham, Framingham, Franklin, Hopkinton, Maynard, Marlborough, Milford, Natick, Needham, Newton, Shrewsbury, Sudbury, Waltham, and Worcester, Massachusetts.

Categories: Divorce Questions and Legal Questions & Answers.