Subdivision 1. Meaning and effect; grounds.
A dissolution of marriage is the termination of the marital relationship between spouses. A decree of dissolution completely terminates the marital status of both parties. A legal separation is a court determination of the rights and responsibilities of a husband and wife arising out of the marital relationship. A decree of legal separation does not terminate the marital status of the parties. A dissolution of a marriage shall be granted by a county or district court when the court finds that there has been an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage relationship.
A decree of legal separation shall be granted when the court finds that one or both parties need a legal separation.
Defenses to divorce, dissolution and legal separation, including but not limited to condonation, connivance, collusion, recrimination, insanity, and lapse of time, are abolished.
Subd. 2.
[Repealed, 1978 c 772 s 63 ]
Subd. 3. Uncontested legal separation.
If one or both parties petition for a decree of legal separation and neither party contests the granting of the decree nor petitions for a decree of dissolution, the court shall grant a decree of legal separation.