This is helpful, because the old ''Family Relations Act'' didn't talk about separation in any detail. However, the phrase in s. 3(4)(b), "the court may consider," suggests that this section isn't a comprehensive listing of things the court should consider, and the cases about separation are still very helpful. Here are some of the highlights:

<blockquote>"[A]s long as the spouses treat the parting or absence, be it long or short, as temporary and not permanent, the couple is not living separately even though physically it is living apart. In <span class="noglossary">order</span> to come within the clear meaning of the words 'separate and apart' in the statute, there must need be not only a physical absence one from the other, but also a destruction of the consortium vitae or as the act terms it, marriage breakdown."</blockquote>

<blockquote>"[T]he words 'living separate' connote an attitude of mind in the spouses in which they regard themselves as withdrawn from each other."</blockquote>