A "formulaire" from the French social security authorities provides various boxes to tick, including "separé(e) de corps" and "separé(e) de fait." We are neither, I'm quite sure, but my curiosity is piqued. How would you translate those? A literal translation into English would suggest that they're one and the same but this evidently isn't the case.
Dave
[typo corrected in title]
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Colleen,
According to this legal translator's site, séparation des corps is a "judicial separation" whereas séparation de fait is a "de facto separation."
I'm not 100% up on the legal mumbo-jumbo, but I think that séparation de fait means that, while the spouses may no longer be living together, they have not taken any legal steps towards divorce (even if they've been living separately for many years), whereas séparation des corps is a legal step towards the dissolution of a marriage.
Many thanks. I did suspect that one was physical separation and the other legal separation but couldn't figure which was which. The "corps" really threw me.
It's very clear in Dutch: 'séparé de corps' in Dutch is 'gescheiden van tafel en bed', which would literally translate as 'separated from table and bed'.
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