[cstreit]

I've never seen it work... In general what I've seen is the "Seperation" is a divorce but neither party is willing to say the word, so they "seperate".

Here's the thing (I've not been thru this thank God, so I only speak from observation and opinion). Marriage is a partnership. Seperating to resolve your issues seems very counter-intuitive to me. You are together and ostensibly stronger because of it. Splitting in half to take care of a problem is the exact opposite of the strength and benefit of marraige. When one has an issue, the other is there to help. If BOTH have an issue it's hard, but marraige is compromise. One compromise that both parties have to make often is that sometimes you have to put your feelings aside to focus on the other person.

So while I'm not familiar with your situation nor whether certain issues can or should be put aside, I just don't see the seperation as ever being a good idea.