While the divorce, (if you're wanting to get married in a church) doesn't exist, (mainly thanks to 'El Papa' & his cohorts), legal separation or marriage annulment is the next best thing and does within the current legal framework.
What does legal separation give you? Can you go screw/cohabitate with anyone you want with no repercussions or is it just a piece of paper that cost time/effort /money and really does nothing besides give notice that you don't get along with the person you married?
What is the main difference between Legal Separation and Annulment? Once a Decree of Annulment has been issued by the court the parties may choose to remarry. A decree of Legal Separation allows the spouses to live separately but does not sever the bonds of marriage (remarriage is not allowed).
Not what I asked but I suppose it answers my question anyway. It doesn't do a lot for you unless it is possibly on the financial side. I hope it at least means you are no longer responsible for their bills.
Legal seperation here is just that you no longer live together. Normally done at the Barangay level and overseen by the Barangay Lawyer. It is a legally binding contract and you set forth such things as living arrangements and who pays what bills etc. In my case I got a separation agreement and had to pay no monthly maintenance fees or rent/utilities for my wife etcv. I also agreed to pay her a one time fee of money (undisclosed amount) for her to voluntarily accompany me to the US Embassy for her to sign an uncontested divorce agreement in front of Embassy lawyer as required by law. To answer the question of being able to "screw/cohabitate [sic] with anyone you want with no repercussions" the answer is NO you may not live with another woman or have sexual relations either for that matter (at least none that can be proved in court of law). You are still married in the eyes of the law in the PI. The legal separation is to define who pays what and who lives where and any other responsibilities like who pays for kids upkeep and school etc if the wife gets n allowance etc... It all has to do with Filipino Family Law. Ask your Barangay Captain (or his Lawyer) to see the law books (do so with respect). They are required to show them to you upon request if they are available or you can just Google them. To legally be able to mess around with no repercussions from the law you need to either have an annulment or a divorce or be a widow according to PI law. I have been through all this here in the PI (both legal separation and divorce) and if anyone has any specific questions you want to ask we can do it here in this thread or we can start a new one if there is interest. (don't want to hijack this thread) Also if for personal reasons you wish to have a private conversation about this topic of divorce and/or legal separation feel free to PM and I will answer to the best of my ability. Also, if I know the answer I will tell you what it is in layman terms. If don't know the answer to your question I will tell you that I don't know and to contact an attorney! No BS. DaveD Note: The Barangay is neutral and will not take sides. They are there to act as arbitors of disputes. The legal separation covers your a$$ from your wife trying to screw you over for not paying a bill or abandoning her or the kids etc. It is all spelled out in detail in the separation document. Mine tried to change the agreement after we signed it and the Barangay told her to go take a flying leap. It is definitely in your best interest to get one and fight for your rights!
I want to say something about this, in 2009 I was living in Catmon in North Cebu with an American friend of mine from here in the states. His wife now gf then had a cousin that wanted to live with me so I said ok. Now I am new to the Phils at that time and it wasn't very long that things started to disappear. Now when she moved in I had no idea she was going to quit her job but she did. So when I decided this was not working out and told her to leave, she then went to her Barangay and they all showed up (her and her mom and 2 aunts) wanting this ungodly amount of money because I had her quit her job etc, which I didn't but to shorten this I ended up paying 10,000 pesos instead of 500,000 pesos that she and her mom was asking for. If it was not for her own cousin backing me up I could have had to pay out a lot of pesos. Her main complaint was I promised to marry her (no I did not) and I had her quit her job (again not true) and that was a loss of wages etc. Thak god her own cousin backed me up so YEA it is and can bite you if you don't have your 6 covered!!!
Wishful thinking that will be trouble free as well. Better don't p*ss off nobody @all, this way you can really say: better safe than sorry (lol).
Legal separation is one thing Divorce is another. As there is NO Divorce per say ( only annulment ) no Embassy anywhere can do a thing