SEPARATION, JUDICIAL. Until the statute 20 & 21 Vict. c. 85, divorces a which put an end to the marriage altogether, wero only obtainable by a special act of parliament, which the legislaturo would net pass in favour of a husband until after a sentence of separa tion a tnensd et :hero in the ecclesiastical court, and would not pass at all if his conduct had not been free from reproach. [Divoecs.] Either of the spouses could always however obtain, on the ground of adultery, cruelty, and certain other causes, a divorce a mend] et tkoro.
The remedy now given in such cases by the Court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes is termed a judicial separation. This, like a divorce a 'newel et Moro, does not dissolve the marriage ; it does not bar the wife of her dower, for instance; it effects only such a separa tion of the parties as leaves it open to them to come together again. But it relieves the husband from all liability for his wife ; and it confers on the wife the right of having and disposing of her own property and earnings, as freely as if she were a feme solo.
This kind of separation may be obtained on the ground of adultery or cruelty, or desertion without cause for two years or upwards; but unlike a decree for a divorce, which is absolute and irreversible, a sentence of judicial separation may be reversed at any time after wards, if obtained in the absence of the defendant, on its appearing that there was reasonable ground for the alleged desertion.
In cases either of divorce or judicial separation, the Court may, if it shall think fit, order that the husband shall secure to the wife such sum as it shall deem reasonable. The allowance which may thus be made to a woman for her support out of the husband's estate, is to be settled at the discretion of the court on consideration of all the circumstances of the case, and to be proportioned to the rank of the parties.