What is the regime of separate residence of spouses?

One of the ways to protect personal property and non-property rights of spouses in Ukrainian legislation is to establish a regime of separate residence of spouses (separation). The regime of separate residence is a certain alternative to divorce.

The court makes a decision to dissolve a marriage if its further preservation is impossible, contradicts the interests of one of the spouses or their children, and the reason for establishing the regime of separate residence of the spouses is the impossibility or unwillingness of the wife and (or) the husband to live together.

The regime of separate residence is aimed at ensuring the property rights and parental rights of one or both of the spouses while preserving the rights and obligations that the wife and husband had before the establishment of this regime, as well as the rights and obligations established by the marriage contract.

That is, in the case of establishing a separate residence regime:

1) the property acquired in the future by the wife and husband will not be considered as acquired during the marriage;

2) a child born to a wife after the expiration of ten months will not be considered as coming from her husband.

However, the regime of separate residence does not terminate the rights and obligations that the spouses had before the establishment of such regime, for example, the right to maintenance or the right to inheritance, etc.