Legal Separation Vs. Divorce [333]

Flying Free

Natalie Hoffman

Emotional, Narcissism, Christianity, Abuse, Religion & Spirituality, Spiritual, Christian, Self-improvement, Education, Divorce, Marriage

5 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 24 June 2025

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode, I’m diving into a question I get all the time: Is legal separation the better option for Christian women in emotionally and spiritually abusive marriages? Or is divorce actually the path to healing and wholeness?

I know how hard it is to navigate these decisions, especially when your faith, your safety, and your identity are all tangled together. I’ve lived it. I’ve wrestled with it. And I’ve coached hundreds of women through it.

So I’m walking you through the differences between legal separation and divorce from a biblical, emotional, financial, and psychological perspective without shame, fear tactics, or pressure. Just clarity, truth, and love.

What You’ll Learn:

What legal separation really involves (hint: it’s not just sleeping in separate rooms)
The truth behind “God hates divorce” and what Scripture actually says
How legal separation can keep you stuck emotionally and financially
Why divorce might be the healthiest choice for you and your children
What your church may be getting wrong—and how to respond with courage and grace
My own story of choosing divorce and what changed in my life after

Read the full show notes and/or ask Natalie a question here

Related Resources:

Get a free, practical guide to legal separation and divorce that will help you decide what is best for you.
Some more Flying Free Podcast episodes on divorce and separation: “How Do I Know if Divorce Is the Right Choice for Me?” “Will God Punish Me if I Get a Divorce?” “During Separation, How Do I Deal With an Overwhelming Workload and No Support?”

Transcript

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0:00.0	Before we get started, I have something new and exciting to share for all of our listeners
0:06.2	who are divorced or heading in that direction.
0:09.4	It's called The Divorced Christian Woman Podcast, your honest, no-fluff guide to life after leaving.
0:16.0	We will talk about rebuilding your identity, handling big emotions, navigating friendships,
0:22.6	parenting, dating, or not, and all the unexpected freedom that comes when you're no longer
0:28.8	trying to keep a broken thing together. If that's where you're at, I'd love for you to join me,
0:34.7	my friend Diana Swillinger, and all our guests over there.
0:38.4	You can find the Divorce Christian Woman podcast on your favorite podcast app, like the one
0:43.8	you're listening to right now. Go hit follow, and I'll meet you over there with a cup of coffee
0:48.8	and zero judgment.
0:54.5	Hi, this is Natalie Hoffman of Flying FreeNow.com, and you're listening to the Flying Free
1:01.2	Podcast, a support resource for women of faith looking for hope and healing from hidden
1:07.7	emotional and spiritual abuse.
1:16.7	Welcome to episode 33 of the Flying Free Podcast.
1:22.7	Today we're diving into a topic that many of you have asked about, the difference between legal separation and divorce.
1:25.5	We're going to get into it.
1:27.0	But I want you to know that this is just the
1:29.5	tip of the iceberg of things you're going to want to learn about and understand before you
1:35.3	file for divorce and not after. If you're thinking you might get a divorce down the road,
1:40.9	why not educate yourself on what exactly that's going to involve?
1:45.9	I've got a course inside the Flying Free Collidoscope that covers all the bases,
1:50.8	from understanding biblical perspectives on divorce and remarriage to getting all the pieces
	...

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