Rule 78.1.Stipulated Order Terminating a Decree of Legal Separation
Part X. Judgments and Decrees · Last amended January 1, 2023 · Last verified September 4, 2026
Full Text of Rule 78.1
Rule History
Added on an emergency basis Aug. 29, 2022, effective Sept. 24, 2022, permanently adopted Dec. 8, 2022, effective Jan. 1, 2023.
Plain-English Summary
Rule 78.1 answers a question no other rule reaches: what happens when legally separated spouses reconcile.
When it is available
If the legal separation decree has not been converted into a decree of dissolution, the parties may stipulate at any time after entry that the court may enter an order terminating it. Everything is filed under the same case number as the separation action.
What the stipulation must say
It must meet Rule 69 and be personally signed by each party, and must contain seven acknowledgments:
- Both agree to terminate, wish to restore their status to legally married, and do so intelligently, voluntarily and without duress, coercion or undue influence.
- On entry, the marital community is reformed as if the parties married on the date of the termination order, and the legal separation no longer exists.
- Property or debt awarded as separate under the decree remains separate -- and so does anything acquired or incurred between the decree and the termination, staying with the party who acquired or incurred it.
- Property payments still due under the decree are waived unless the termination order says otherwise.
- Parenting orders entered under Chapter 4 of Title 25 no longer apply.
- Child support and spousal maintenance provisions no longer apply, except sums owed to the State under A.R.S. section 46-407 -- and unless otherwise agreed, each party waives arrears that accrued while those provisions were in effect.
- The termination order does not affect creditors who may have relied on the decree.
The point of the list
Read together, those acknowledgments make reconciliation prospective rather than retroactive. The community restarts on the termination date and does not reach back to absorb what either spouse acquired while separated. That is why the separate-property acknowledgment covers both the original award and the interim period -- and why the creditor provision is there, since third parties who extended credit against the decree's allocation are not bound by the spouses' later agreement.
A proposed order must accompany the stipulation and incorporate its terms, and the court files the order after a judicial officer approves and signs it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can we undo a legal separation if we reconcile?
Rule 78.1(a) allows the parties to stipulate that the court may enter an order terminating the legal separation decree at any time after its entry, provided the decree has not been converted into a decree of dissolution.
What happens to property acquired while we were separated?
Rule 78.1(c)(3) has the parties acknowledge that property acquired or debts incurred from the entry of the legal separation decree through the termination date remain the separate property of the acquiring party and the separate debt of the incurring party.
When does the marital community restart?
Rule 78.1(c)(2) has the parties acknowledge that on entry of the order the marital community will be reformed as if they married on the date of the termination order.
What happens to unpaid support from the separation period?
Rule 78.1(c)(6) has the parties acknowledge that support provisions no longer apply, except for sums owed to the State under A.R.S. section 46-407, and that unless otherwise agreed each party waives any claim for amounts that remained due while those provisions were in effect.
Does terminating the decree affect creditors?
No. Rule 78.1(c)(7) has the parties acknowledge that the termination order does not impact the rights of creditors that may have relied on the terms of the legal separation decree.