Marital separation occurs when spouses in a marriage stop living together without getting divorced.
Other couples may separate as an alternative to divorce for economic or religious reasons, for tax purposes, or to ensure continuing retirement and/or health insurance benefits for both spouses.
As for a divorce, the latter may include provisions for alimony, whether to have sole custody or shared parenting of any children, and the amount of child support.
[medical citation needed] A separation may be unilaterally decided by one of the spouses moving away.
Many U.S. state statutes, for example Virginia's, specify that being separated for a given period of time can be grounds for divorce.