Technically, “divorce” refers only to legally ending your legal relationship: marriage.
All of the other legal issues surrounding divorce are called “corollary” issues, particularly, property, support, and parenting.
You can keep all of your corollary issues and if it is a common-law relationship, you can keep all of your issues, out of court. In fact, most people manage to do so. People prefer out-of-court settlements for many reasons, but the primary reasons are: privacy, flexibility, greater control over the process, reduced legal expenses and the avoidance of the stress and bitterness of court battles. However, reaching an agreement is not easy! It takes a lot of effort from both sides to discuss the issues reasonably and to make compromises. Once an agreement is reached, it can be embodied into a Separation Agreement. Both parties should have legal advice before signing a Separation Agreement, to ensure it is fair under our legal regime, and that it is binding on the parties. Terms of a settlement can also be embodied into Minutes of Settlement or into a Consent Order.