Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2021)

CHAPTER FOURTH
THE EFFECTS OF SEPARATION FROM BED AND BOARD

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    174.   Separation from bed and board, from whatever cause it arises, does not dissolve the marriage tie. Neither husband nor wife, therefore, can contract a new marriage while both are living.

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    175.   Separation relieves the spouses from the obligation of mutual protection and assistance to each other. (Amended by Act 13 of 1989)

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    176.   Separation from bed and board carries with it separation of property; it gives the wife the right to obtain restitution of the property that she brought in marriage.

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    Unless by the judgment they are declared forfeited, which only takes place in the case of adultery, the separation also gives the wife the right to claim all the benefits conferred on her by the marriage contract; saving the rights of survivorship to which such separation does not give rise, unless the contrary has been specially stipulated. (Substituted by Act 34 of 1956)

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    177.   When community of property exists, the separation operates its dissolution, imposes on the husband the obligation of making an inventory, and gives to the wife, in case of acceptance, the right to demand the partition of the property, unless by the judgment she has been declared to have forfeited this right.

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    178.   The separation confers upon the wife full civil capacity to act without the necessity of marital or judicial authorisation. (Substituted by Act 34 of 1956)

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    179.   For whatever cause the separation takes place, the party against whom it has been declared, loses all the advantages granted by the other party.

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    180.   The party who has obtained the separation, retains all the advantages granted by the other, although they may have been stipulated to be reciprocal and the reciprocity does not take place.

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    181.

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      (1)     Either of the parties thus separated who has not sufficient means of subsistence, may obtain judgment against the other for an alimentary pension. The amount of pension is fixed by the Court, according to the condition, means and other circumstances of the parties.

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      (2)     If an alimentary pension has been ordered to be paid and has not been duly paid by the husband he shall be liable for necessaries supplied for the use of the wife. (Amended by Act 34 of 1956)

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    182.   The children are entrusted to the party who has obtained the separation, unless the Court orders, for the greater advantage of the children, that all or some of them be entrusted to the care of the other party, or of a third person.

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    183.   Whoever may be entrusted with the care of the children, the father and mother respectively retain the right of watching over their maintenance and education, and are bound to contribute thereto in proportion to their means.

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    184.   Separation from bed and board judicially ordered does not deprive the children, issue of the marriage, of any of the advantages allowed them by law or by the marriage covenants of their father and mother. But these rights only come into operation in the same way and under the same circumstances as if there had been no such separation.

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    185.   Husband and wife thus separated, for any cause whatever, may at any time reunite and thereby put an end to the effects of the separation, but the spouses nevertheless remain separate as to property.(Substituted by Act 34 of 1956)

BOOK SEVENTH
FILIATION