legal separation

Noun legal separation has 2 senses

• legal separation(n = noun.communication) judicial separation - a judicial decree regulating the rights and responsibilities of a married couple living apart;
is a kind of decree, edict, fiat, order, rescript

• legal separation(n = noun.act) separation - (law) the cessation of cohabitation of man and wife (either by mutual agreement or under a court order);
is a kind of cessation, surcease