Applications for Judicial Separation
If it is not possible to agree the terms of a separation then it is open to either party to apply to court for a judicial separation, either in the High Court or in the Circuit Court depending on whether the assets involved are substantial.
An application for Judicial Separation must be based on one of the following six grounds as set out in section one of the Judicial Separation & Family Law Reform Act 1989:
1. One party has committed adultery.
2. One party has behaved in such a way that it would be unreasonable to expect the other spouse to continue to live with them.
3. One party has deserted the other for at least one year at the time of the application.
4. The parties have live apart from one another for one year up to the time of the application and both parties agree to the decree being granted.
5. The parties have lived apart from one another for at least three years at the time of the application.
6. The court considers that a normal marital relationship has not existed between the spouses for at least one year before the date of the application.
