The legitimacy of any future child born to the couple remains intact, and the spouses may not legally remarry.
In some legal jurisdictions, including certain countries, it can be difficult to get a full and final divorce, but if the spouses are already separated a mensa et thoro for an extended period of time (for example, three years), the court may decide to grant a full and final divorce.
Spouses may also request an a mensa et thoro separation to protect themselves from accusations of desertion or abandonment—such as in cases where one must depart from the other for an extended period of time.
However, this situation is different from the specific legal status of legal/judicial separation that exists in some other jurisdictions and requires filing the courts for.
[5][6] In Ontario, a separation agreement is unenforceable unless it is made in writing, signed by the parties and witnessed.
This could only be obtained on the grounds of adultery, cruelty, or "unnatural practices" (a concept never defined by the legislature or the courts).
[8] Under the law of some states, a separation can occur by judicial decree,[9] or by an acknowledged ("notarized") agreement of the parties.
So, therefore, separation is revocable; state laws may require "the joint application of the parties, accompanied with satisfactory evidence of their reconciliation ... by the court which rendered it, subject to such regulations and restrictions as the court thinks fit to impose.