If you are married and considering a divorce, you probably already know that you are going to have to deal with a great deal of formal and legal paperwork. Do you also know the value of filing a legal separation document with your attorney or local court house? This is a way of protecting yourself from a spouse who is mishandling debts or who is ignoring some new boundaries. For example, some states demand that a legal separation document must be filed as part of any divorce proceedings, and this is to identify the way in which finances will be handled prior to the legalization of the divorce. Such documents might also address the way in which child support and visitation should be dealt with and even how assets and properties are going to be distributed.