My husband and I would have celebrated our 30th anniversary in June, had he not asked for a separation. Neither of us were happy, but I would have stayed in the marriage and tried to make it work. I stayed home with the kids and only worked sparingly during our marriage. I have health issues that kept me from working after the kids were grown. He always supported that and actually pushed for it. He has emotionally cheated on me twice, and admits to it. Although, he said I blew it out of proportion. He has agreed to support me, and is giving me half of his income. We did put it in writing and our daughter witnessed it. I do realize this is not legally binding. His alimony is my only income. Do we need to legally separate for me to use his alimony as income to buy a house? I don't plan to do this for awhile, but I like to have a plan. Thanks for reading all this.

Melissa, experience showed me that you can't trust these beautiful promises on paper.

Divorce or no divorce, you need to make this agreement legally approved.

One day, he might meet with a new girlfriend who will convince him to stop giving you that much money. She'll want her part too :grin:

Or maybe, just like I read on another post, for any reasons, he will decide to stop paying from one day to another, leaving you no options.

Just be prepared for the worst situation.