I hope someone here can help me.
I met a really great guy who lives in MI. I live in another state. He told me he is in the process of a separation in which he has to live in the marital home for 1 year before he can get divorced. He told me he has another 9-1/2 months to go before he can get a divorce. I asked him how the courts determine the "separation" date in order to countdown to the 1 year in order to file for divorce. He told me that he had to file a separation paper in court. The reason he can not leave his marital home until the divorce is granted is because of "abandonment." He told me he does not care if his spouse gets the house, but if he leaves she can slap him with abdandonment and attach that on to his business and other assets. This sounds implausible to me. I live in NC where we have to have a 1 year separation before we can formally file for divorce; however, we do NOT have to live with our spouse, in fact, we have to show a new home address or some other proof that one party had indeed left the marital home in order for the 1 year countdown to begin. It is very hard for me to believe that MI would force people to live together for 1 year while be considered "separated".
At any rate, right now he has to sneak around if he wants to contact me. This does not seem right to me, even if he is supposedly living in the basement as "separated". My gut tells me he is still living with his wife, i.e., he is not separated in any shape or form of the word, as he is trying to lead me to believe, and that no papers have been formally filed. In other words, the guy is still totally married and may not have any real intention of ever leaving his wife. When I confronted him with the fact that I did not believe he was telling me the truth, he reiterated the fact about abandonment and in fact he has a friend going through this who is living in an abusive situation because of it. Does anyone know anything about MI law? I really want to believe this guy, but all my friends are telling me he is a player and I need to steer clear of him. Any advice or suggestions??
Marlene

